The new Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 will reorganize the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) $2 billion worth of research programs. The extramural Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service will be renamed the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). For making competitive grants, NIFA will replace the National Research Initiative (NRI) with the new Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). The AFRI will receive $200 million more than the NRI with a yearly budget of $700 million and will be required to spend 60% of its research budget on basic research. The NIFA will coordinate a five-year, $308 million grant program for organic and specialty crops. The USDA will be required to prepare an annual research roadmap. Source: Science