Sec. 206. Public breed and cultivar research

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The Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act ( 7 U.S.C. 3157 ) is amended— in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following: In this section: The term conventional breeding means the development of new varieties of an organism through controlled mating and selection without the use of transgenic methods, provided that information gained through gene sequencing, genomic, and metabolomics analyses can be used to inform mating and selection choices. The term cultivar means a variety of a species of plant that has been intentionally selected for use in cultivation because of the improved characteristics of that variety of the species.

The term public breed and cultivar means an animal breed or crop cultivar that is the commercially available end product of a publicly funded breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance, and for which the farmers' rights to save and use, and breeders' rights to share and improve are protected. ; and by adding at the end the following: Of the amount of grants made under subsections

(b)and (c), the Secretary shall ensure that not less than the following amounts are used for competitive research grants that support the development of public breeds and cultivars: $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; $80,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2026 through 2030. In making grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to high-potential research projects that lead to the release of public breeds and cultivars that assist producers in mitigating and adapting to climate change. The Secretary shall ensure that— the terms for any competitive grants made under subsection

(b)are not less than 5 years; any such term or associated renewal process facilitates the development and commercialization of public breeds and cultivars through long-term grants; and when necessary, Tribal consultation occurs to ensure public breed and cultivar development does not infringe on Tribes’ abilities to maintain culturally sensitive breeds and cultivars. . Section 251 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 6971 ) is amended— in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following: The Under Secretary shall appoint a coordinator within the Office of the Chief Scientist that reports to the Under Secretary to coordinate research activities at the Department relating to the breeding of public breeds and cultivars (as defined in paragraph

(3)of subsection

(a)of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act ( 7 U.S.C. 3157(a) )). The coordinator appointed under subparagraph

(A)shall— coordinate animal and plant breeding research activities funded by the Department relating to the development and delivery to producers of climate resilient and regionally adapted public breeds and crop cultivars; carry out ongoing analysis and track activities for any Federal research funding supporting animal and plant breeding (including any public breeds and cultivars developed with Federal funds); and ensure that the analysis and activities are made available to the public not later than 60 days after the last day of each fiscal year; develop a strategic plan that establishes targets for public breed and cultivar research investments across the Department to ensure that a diverse range of animal and crop needs are being met in a timely and transparent manner, with a strong focus on delivery of resource-efficient, stress-tolerant, regionally adapted animal breeds and crop cultivars that help build agricultural resilience to climate change and support on-farm carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas mitigation, nutritional quality, and other farmer-identified priority agronomic and market traits; convene a working group in order to carry out the coordination functions described in this subparagraph comprised of individuals who are responsible for the management, administration, or analysis of public breeding programs within the Department from— the National Institute of Food and Agriculture; the Agricultural Research Service; and the Economic Research Service; in order to maximize delivery of public breeds and cultivars, promote collaboration among— the coordinator; the working group convened under clause (iv); the advisory council established under section 1634 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 ( 7 U.S.C. 5843 ); genetic resource conservation centers; land-grant colleges and universities (as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 ( 7 U.S.C. 3103 )); Hispanic-serving institutions (as defined in section 502(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1101a(a) ); Native American-serving nontribal institutions (as defined in section 371(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1067q(c) )); Tribal organizations (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5304 )); nongovernmental organizations with interest or expertise in public breeding; and public and private plant breeders; convene regular stakeholder listening sessions to provide input on national and regional priorities for public breed and cultivar research activities across the Department; and evaluate and make recommendations to the Under Secretary on training and resource needs to meet future breeding challenges, including the challenges stemming from climate change. ; and in subsection (f)(1)(D)(i), by striking ( and inserting 7 U.S.C. 450i(b) ) ( . 7 U.S.C. 3157(b) ) Section 296(b)(6)(B) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 7014(b)(6)(B) ) is amended by striking Office; and and inserting Office (including the public breed and cultivar research activities coordinator under subsection (e)(7) of that section); and . Subtitle H of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 ( 7 U.S.C. 5921 ) is amended by adding at the end the following new section: The Secretary of Agriculture, in conjunction with the Director of the National Genetic Resources Program appointed under section 1633 and acting through the Agricultural Research Service, shall support the development of public breeds and cultivars (as defined in paragraph

(3)of subsection

(a)of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act ( 7 U.S.C. 3157(a) )) by Federal researchers. In supporting research under subsection

(a)using funds made available pursuant to subsection (d), the Secretary shall give priority to high-potential research projects that lead to the release of public breeds and cultivars that assist producers in mitigating and adapting to climate change. Not later than October 1 of each year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that provides information on all public breed and cultivar research funded by the Agricultural Research Service and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, including— a list of public breeds and cultivars developed and released in a commercially available form; areas of high priority research; identified research gaps relating to public breed and cultivar development, including newly emerging needs stemming from climate change; and an assessment of the state of commercialization for breeds and cultivars that have been developed. Of the funds made available to the Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service for a fiscal year, not less than $50,000,000 shall be made available to carry out this section. .

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