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Marketing orders have been funding research for the agriculture industry since the 1930s. Now, a new and diverse team is joining the research effort with a goal of laying a foundation for the future of California agriculture.
The California Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) represents a new funding category aimed at integration with non-traditional sectors. It has a roadmap to guide long-term research priorities and short-term innovations to sustain agricultural production in the years ahead.
âThe Agricultural Research & Innovation Roadmap is not just about science; itâs about securing Californiaâs agricultural future,â said David Still, plant science professor at Cal Poly Pomona and executive director of CSUâs ARI.
The ARI is creating university-industry partnerships to support research on high-priority issues facing California agriculture. The founding member campuses include the CSUâs four colleges of agriculture at Fresno State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona. The ARI also works with research scientists from University of California campuses, USDA, Western Growers and California Tech Alliance.
Still said ARI is also attracting researchers in engineering and computer science and technology sectors.
âThey might not know much about production agriculture, but they can build things that work and find solutions for growers,â Still said.
The ARI allocates about $4.3 million in research funding annually from the CSU general budget that is matched at least one-to-one by external sources, including industry, commodity boards, national agricultural organizations and California commodity boards; animal, plant-soil and food and nutrition programs; and pest control, biotechnology and watershed organizations.
ARI support thus far has included food safety for packaged leafy greens, irrigation efficiency, health effects of eating pistachios, livestock marketing, and the effect of air quality regulations on citrus and table grape producers.
âThe projects have to be what the agriculture industry wants and needs,â Still said. Public and private input will be used to direct funding.
ARI-funded projects will be aligned with the six priorities identified in the roadmap. A new category of grants, âCollaborative Innovation Grants,â will be based on successful models of the ARI-System and ARI-IPM programs.
Research priorities
The six long-term research priorities include climate resilience and environmental sustainability; water management and use efficiency; integrated pest and disease management; food safety and consumer health; automation and data-driven farming; and economics, policy and adoption pathways.
Potential research topics include drought, heat and adaptable crops and rootstocks, salt accumulations and water quality, predictive models for pests and diseases under climate stress, alternative application methods, pathogen movement from soil, water and animals, early detection of in-field contaminants, autonomous vehicles, robotic harvesting and mechanized weeding; digital tools for traceability and return on investment and cost-benefit analysis of sustainable practices.
An example of a proposed project funded by ARI is Cal Poly Humboldtâs Matt Johnsonâs proposal of a barn owl control system for roof rats in almond orchards. Need for this work, Still said, was made known by almond growers and the Almond Board of California.
These CIG grants will be industry-driven: If almond, pistachio or walnut boards and/or growers want research done on their crops, they can make their wishes known to ARI and help establish the experimental approach and parameters that would be beneficial to their stakeholders.
Innovation priorities
In addition to the long-term projects, short-term innovations can be funded to solve current challenges in agriculture production. Still said that every two years, through the California AgTech Alliance, Californiaâs priority innovation areas will be defined to ensure they reflect the most urgent needs and persistent challenges facing growers.
âThink impactful, think useful,â Still said.
Priorities are informed directly by farmers, farmworkers and industry leaders and are intended to foster practical, adoptable solutions that can be useful in the near term while long-term research is underway.
Water and soil management are one of the priorities. Still said water scarcity, rising input costs and increased regulatory pressure on growers are affecting agriculture production. Growers need tools to help them make real-time, field-level decisions about water and soil management while maintaining yields and long-term land productivity.
Possible solutions are focusing on scalable technologies and systems that improve water use efficiency and soil health under variable and tight conditions. Those technologies would use sensing, monitoring and decision-support tools that provide direction in soil biology, moisture and nutrient dynamics, enabling more precise use of biological and chemical inputs.
Still said growers must be able to integrate solutions into their existing operations, reduce risk and demonstrate clear economic and regulatory value.
The second priority for innovation is automation and technology. Labor shortages, rising labor costs and worker safety concerns all affect production. Still said automation is no longer optional, but it must be reliable, affordable and compatible with existing workforce models.
Technologies that can be adopted incrementally, Still said, must function in real field conditions and be integrated with farm labor and management systems.
Pest management is another priority for project funding. Still said solutions must be effective, compliant and economically viable. Possible innovations are tools and systems that enable precision pest management, improving detection, timing and targeting of pests and biological solutions that reduce reliance on broad-spectrum chemicals.
A fourth priority is biomass management. Increasing volumes of agriculture residues and limited, costly options for disposal is becoming a challenge for growers and agricultural processors. Due to air quality regulations and infrastructure constraints, biomass is often treated as a liability rather than an asset.
Possible innovations would include technologies, markets and supporting infrastructure to convert agriculture residues into valuable products or energy uses. Again, priority would be given to solutions that are economically feasible for growers, scalable across regions and aligned with California air quality and sustainability goals.
Successful innovations will reduce disposal costs, create new revenue opportunities and integrate into existing agricultural systems and growing incentive programs.
Cecilia Parsons | Associate Editor
Cecilia Parsons has lived in the Central Valley community of Ducor since 1976, covering agriculture for numerous agricultural publications over the years. She has found and nurtured many wonderful and helpful contacts in the ag community, including the UCCE advisors, allowing for news coverage that focuses on the basics of food production.
She is always on the search for new ag topics that can help growers and processors in the San Joaquin Valley improve their bottom line.
In her free time, Cecilia rides her horse, Holly in ranch versatility shows and raises registered Shetland sheep which she exhibits at county and state fairs during the summer.
