摘要：T he public and private sectors invest about $7 billion annually in agricul tural research, with the private sector playing an increasingly prominent role. Between 1970 and 1995, private agricultural R&D doubled in real terms. Since 1982, the private sector has invested more in agricultural R&D than the federal and state governments combined (figure 1). As real federal spending for agricul tural research has stagnated, the gap between private and public R&D investment has grown. Also, state experiment stations have relied increasingly on private industry, other nongovernmental organizations, and product sales to fund their research programs. Between 1970 and 1995, the share of experiment station research funded by private and nongovernmental sources (i ncluding product sales) rose from 10.8 percent to 20.2 percent. Several factors have spurred private industry's interest in agricultural R&D, including scientific advances in biotechnology, increased market opportunities, and stronger intellectual property protection for biological inventions.
