12 2 STA T . 12 49PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 2 3 4 —M A Y 22 , 200 8‘ ‘ (i)newus es a n d new pro du ct s f ro m traditiona l and nontraditional crops , animals, by products, and nat - ural resources
‘‘(ii) robotics, ener g y efficiency, computing, and e x pert systems; ‘‘(iii) new h a z ard and ris k assessment and mitiga- tion measures; and ‘‘(i v ) water q uality and management . ‘‘( F ) AGRICULT UR E EC ON O M IC SA N D RURAL COMMU- NITIES. —M arkets, trade, and policy, including— ‘‘(i) strategies for entering into and being competi- tive in domestic and overseas markets; ‘‘(ii) farm efficiency and profitability, including the viability and competitiveness of small and medium- sized dairy, livestock, crop and other commodity oper- ations; ‘‘(iii) new decision tools for farm and market sys- tems; ‘‘(iv) choices and applications of technology; ‘‘(v) technology assessment; and ‘‘(vi) new approaches to rural development, including rural entrepreneurship. ‘‘( 3 ) T ERM.—The term of a competitive grant made under this subsection may not exceed 10 years. ‘‘( 4 ) G ENERAL ADMINISTRATION.— I n making grants under this subsection, the S ecretary shall— ‘‘(A) seek and accept proposals for grants; ‘‘( B ) determine the relevance and merit of proposals through a system of peer and merit review in accordance with section 103 of the Agricultural R esearch, E xtension, and Education Reform Act of 1 9 9 8 ( 7U .S. C .7 6 13); ‘‘(C) award grants on the basis of merit, quality, and relevance; ‘‘( D ) solicit and consider input from persons who con- duct or use agricultural research, extension, or education in accordance with section 10 2 (b) of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7612(b)); and ‘‘(E) in seeking proposals for grants under this sub- section and in performing peer review evaluations of such proposals, seek the widest participation of qualified individ- uals in the Federal Government, colleges and universities, State agricultural experiment stations, and the private sector. ‘‘( 5 ) ALLOCATION O F FUNDS.—In making grants under this subsection, the Secretary shall allocate funds to the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative to ensure that, of funds allocated for research activities— ‘‘(A) not less than 60 percent is made available to make grants for fundamental research (as defined in sub- section (f)(1) of section 251 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6971)), of which— ‘‘(i) not less than 30 percent is made available to make grants for research to be conducted by multi- disciplinary teams; and ‘‘(ii) not more than 2 percent is used for equipment grants under paragraph (6)(A); and Grants.
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