"Agriculture" Is Not a Dirty Word

Agricultural science is ripe for a renaissance. For too many years, the agriculture sciences have been disparaged in the science and education communities, perhaps because agronomy, soil science, plant pathology, and animal science use a problem-solving approach rather than simply seeking knowledge. When science research funds are handed out—for example, in the federal stimulus bill—agriculture often gets left off the list. I suspect this is because policy-makers and some scientists see "agriculture" as synonymous with "agribusiness," rather than as a purely scientific discipline, and they assume private funding will take care of agriculture-related research needs. Agricultural scientists at land-grant institutions do receive some research dollars from noncompetitive sources, but not all research is funded this way. Adding insult to injury, the major U.S. science journals don't devote specific sections or editors to agricultural research. Some schools of agriculture have taken the word "agriculture" out of their names, presumably to attract more students in a country where only 2% of the population farms. (It hasn't worked: Enrollment in university agricultural science majors has dropped steadily nationwide since the early 1980s.) In short, agricultural science has an image problem. Our disciplines are not considered relevant and, more disturbing, we're not seen as a source of solutions to many of the world's most pressing challenges, even though many of those challenges directly relate to agricultural science...Science