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Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program (2014)

Chapter: Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×

TABLE G-1 Sample Statistics of NRI Projects, 2008a

  Unit Mean Standard
Deviation
PROJECT OUTPUTS
Refereed Journal Articles Number published 2.65 5.29
Citations per Article Number per article 6.86 14.01
 
PROJECT SCALE
Budget $0,000 39.32 25.98
Project Duration Months 31.61 9.45
 
PROJECT SCOPE
Project Complexity
Number of Co-PIs Number 2.92 2.97
 
Current Supportb
Federal Support   0.73 0.44
Non-Federal Support   0.52 0.50
No Other Support   0.10  
 
Project Functions
Research % 93.53 20.95
Extension % 4.29 12.88
Education % 2.18 8.59
 
Project Composition
Basic Research % 61.35 34.60
Applied Research % 32.33 29.51
Extension or Education % 6.32  
 
PROJECT LOCUS
Subject Area
Plants   0.314 0.465
Animals   0.212 0.409
Food/Nutrition   0.145 0.353
Social Sciences   0.067 0.249
Bio-Products   0.048 0.213
Ecosystems   0.214 0.411
 
Type of Performing Institution
Federal   0.045 0.208
Private Research   0.029 0.167
Private University   0.043 0.203
Public Non–Land-Grant Univ   0.083 0.277
Land-Grant University   0.800 0.400
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
  Unit Mean Standard
Deviation
Rank of Project Director
Professor   0.48 0.50
Associate Professor   0.19 0.39
Assistant Professor   0.20 0.40
Federal Scientist or Other   0.09 0.28
Pre- or Postdoctorate   0.04 0.20
 
Award Type
Area   0.33 0.47
Conference   0.11 0.31
Standard   0.56 0.50
 
OTHER FACTORS
Laboratory Assistance
Undergraduate FTE months 7.66 14.84
Graduates FTE months 18.25 22.29
Postdoctorates FTE months 13.10 17.34
 
Project Vintage Months since start date    
 
Completed Project 1 if completed, 0 other    

aIndicator (0/1) variables. Means shown are percentages of the sample falling into the respective category, expressed in decimal form.

bAFRI project directors may receive support from a variety of sources. The sum of the percentages of support sources therefore is greater than unity.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×

TABLE G-2 Sample Statistics of AFRI Projects, 2009–2010a

  Unit Mean Standard
Deviation
PROJECT OUTPUTS
Refereed Journal Articles Number published 1.79 2.90
Citations per Article Number per article 2.62 6.58
Non-Refereed Communications Number communicated 1.74 3.25
 
PROJECT SCALE
Budget $0,000 43.9 41.0
Project Duration Months 41.7 9.7
 
PROJECT SCOPE
Project Complexity
Number of Co-PIs Number 3.52 3.19
 
Current Supportb
Federal Support   0.66 0.47
Non-Federal Support   0.51 0.50
No Other Support   0.14 0.34
 
Project Function
Research % 89.22 24.79
Extension % 5.48 16.16
Education % 5.30 17.73
 
Project Composition
Basic Research % 60.24 35.21
Applied Research % 28.98 26.22
Extension and Education % 10.81 22.29
 
PROJECT LOCUS
Subject Area      
Plants   0.37 0.48
Animals   0.21 0.40
Food/Nutrition   0.15 0.36
Social Sciences   0.05 0.22
Bio-Products   0.04 0.20
Ecosystems   0.18 0.39
 
Type of Performing Institution
Federal   0.05 0.23
Private Research   0.03 0.16
Private University   0.05 0.21
Public Non–Land-Grant Univ   0.10 0.29
Land-Grant University   0.77 0.45
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
  Unit Mean Standard
Deviation
Rank of Project Director
Professor   0.40 0.49
Associate Professor   0.18 0.38
Assistant Professor   0.29 0.46
Federal Scientist   0.05 0.22
Postdoctorate or Other   0.08  
 
Award Type
FASE   0.29 0.45
CAP   0.01 0.11
Conference   0.07 0.28
Standard   0.63 0.48
 
OTHER FACTORS
Laboratory Assistance
Undergraduate FTE months 10.5 52.9
Graduate FTE months 25.0 33.8
Postdoctorates FTE months 11.8 19.4
42.2 3.3
Project Vintage months since start date    
0.33 0.47
Completed Project 1 if completed, 0 other    

aIndicator (0/1) variables. Means shown are percentages of the sample falling into the respective category, expressed in decimal form.

bAFRI project directors may receive support from a variety of sources. The sum of the percentages of support sources therefore is greater than unity.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×

TABLE G-3 Sample Statistics of AFRI Projects, 2011–2012a

  Unit Mean Standard
Deviation
PROJECT OUTPUTS
Refereed Journal Articles Number published 0.88 3.60
Citations per Article Number per article 0.42 1.76
Non-Refereed Communications Number communicated 0.73 2.16
 
PROJECT SCALE
Budget $0,000 119.55 346.26
Project Duration Months 37.79 13.39
 
PROJECT SCOPE
Project Complexity
Number of Co-PIs Number 4.29 4.76
 
Current Supportb
Federal Support   0.70 0.46
Non-Federal Support   0.45 0.50
No Other Support   0.17 0.38
 
Project Functions
Research % 88.30 23.73
Extension % 6.10 16.43
Education % 5.70 15.88
 
Project Composition
Basic Research % 54.85 36.84
Applied Research % 33.46 35.85
Extension or Education % 10.80 21.87
 
PROJECT LOCUS
Subject Area
Plants   0.12 0.33
Animals   0.11 0.31
Food/Nutrition   0.05 0.23
Social Sciences   0.08 0.27
Bio-Products   0.07 0.26
Ecosystems   0.03 0.17
 
Type of Performing Institution
Federal   0.04 0.18
Private Research   0.02 0.14
Private University   0.06 0.23
Public Non–Land-Grant Univ   0.10 0.30
Land-Grant University   0.78 0.41
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
  Unit Mean Standard
Deviation
Rank of Project Director
Professor   0.32 0.47
Associate Professor   0.18 0.39
Assistant Professor   0.22 0.41
Federal Scientist   0.02 0.16
Postdoctorate or Other   0.26  
 
Award Type
FASE   0.39 0.49
CAP   0.03 0.17
Conference   0.05 0.24
Standard   0.53 0.50
 
Program Area
Challenge Grant   0.33 0.47
Fellowship Grant   0.21 0.41
Foundational Grant   0.46 0.50
 
OTHER FACTORS
Laboratory Assistance
Undergraduate FTE 12.86 52.67
Graduates FTE 33.99 71.40
Postdoctorates FTE 19.43 43.98
20.12 7.47
Project Vintage Months since start date    
0.08 0.18
Completed Project 1 if completed, 0 other    

aIndicator (0/1) variables. Means shown are percentages of the sample falling into the respective category, expressed in decimal form.

bAFRI project directors may receive support from a variety of sources. The sum of the percentages of support sources therefore is greater than unity.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×

TABLE G-4 Budget Regression on Outputs and Inputs, AFRI 2009–2010 and 2011–2012

Variable 2009–2010   2011–2012
Linear Interactive   Linear Interactive
OUTPUTS Intercept 23.15 24.43   –110.22 –92.29
Number of Journal Articles   1.44   1.14         8.54   –1.91
(3.24) (1.90)      (4.08) (–0.50)
 
INTERACTIONS Number of Non–Refereed Articles   16.71   –9.39
(4.86) (–0.75)
Number of Refereed Articles/Number of PIs   0.06   0.54
(0.73) (3.30)
Number of Non–Refereed Articles/Duration   0.58
(2.30)
 
SCALE Project Duration (months)   1.09   1.10     2.06   2.01
(8.28) (8.31)   (3.50) (3.34)
 
SCOPE Number of Principal Investigators   2.14   1.97     26.26   24.13
(4.50) (3.69)   (12.52) (11.22)
Basic Research Proportion of Project   –0.06   –0.06     –0.25   –0.27
(–1.24) (–1.26)   (–1.20) (–1.34)
 

Award Type

FASE (Base = Standard Grant)   –8.60   –8.63      
(–3.11) (–3.12)      
CAP (Base = Standard Grant) 229.69 227.01   903.64 884.86
(17.39) (16.56)   (17.75) (17.46)
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
LOCUS Institution Type        

Private University (Base = all other institutions)

21.07 21.14
(3.61) (3.62)

Public NLG University (Base = all other institutions)

45.27 43.00
(1.91) (1.83)
 
Subject Area Plants 10.45 10.42
(2.77) (2.76)
Animals 14.59 14.39
(3.46) (3.41)
Food 16.59 16.56
(3.99) (3.98)
Bio-Products   8.83   8.71
(1.29) (1.27)
Social Science   3.01   2.83
(0.49) (0.46)
 
Base = Ecosystems Base = Ecosystems Base = Ecosystems Base = Ecosystems
 
OTHER Project Vintage (months)   –1.00   –1.02
(–2.60) (–2.64)
 
Statistics R2     0.630     0.630     0.700     0.706
N 447 447 726 726

NOTES: Dependent variable is Project Budget. Conference and Planning Grants are not included in the dataset. If an input has a positive (negative) output-constant effect on budget, then it has a negative (positive) budget-constant effect on that output.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Page 211
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Page 212
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Page 213
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Page 214
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Page 215
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Page 216
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Page 217
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G: Profile of Average NRI and AFRI Projects (20082012)." National Research Council. 2014. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture: A Review of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18652.
×
Page 218
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The United States embarked on bold polices to enhance its food and agricultural system during the last half of the 19th century, investing first in the education of people and soon thereafter in research and discovery programs aimed at acquiring new knowledge needed to address the complex challenges of feeding a growing and hungry nation. Those policies, sustained over 125 years, have produced the most productive and efficient agricultural and food system in history.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the primary agency responsible for supporting innovations and advances in food and agriculture. USDA funds are allocated to support research through several mechanisms, including the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). In 2008, Congress replaced USDA's National Research Initiative with AFRI, creating USDA's flagship competitive research grants program, and the 2008 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act, known as the Farm Bill, outlined the structure of the new program. Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture assesses the effectiveness of AFRI in meeting the goals laid out by Congress and its success in advancing innovations and competitiveness in the U.S. food and agriculture system.

Spurring Innovation in Food and Agriculture evaluates the value, relevance, quality, fairness, and flexibility of AFRI. This report also considers funding policies and mechanisms and identifies measures of the effectiveness and efficiency of AFRI's operation. The study examines AFRI's role in advancing science in relation to other research and grant programs inside of USDA as well as how complementary it is to other federal research and development programs. The findings and conclusions of this report will help AFRI improve its functions and effectiveness in meeting its goals and outcomes.

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