Abstract
Challenges facing food production and agricultural systems are increasingly interconnected with economic, security, health, and equity issues, among others. Threats such as extreme weather, economic volatility, and shrinking water resources and arable land, influence our ability to maintain a safe and resilient food supply. One promising solution to these threats is controlled environment agriculture (CEA). In many cases, CEA can drastically reduce the amount of water and land used in crop production while increasing productivity. Operations may be established in nearly any environment and harvests can take place year-round, supporting food system resiliency and sustainability. CEA sits at the nexus of a number of disciplines and industries, making it well suited for transdisciplinary and multi-institutional research coordination. Herein, authors from multiple US government agencies present CEA as a case study in improving cross-agency research collaboration. The federal government houses a range of scientific expertise and research capabilities, positioning scientists to lead national and global efforts in transdisciplinary, interagency approaches to complex challenges. Navigating cross-agency collaboration can be a challenge, especially coordinating across different scientific disciplines, geographic locations, and funding mechanisms. To enhance multiagency efforts, collaborators could prioritize (i) organizing personnel and resources, (ii) enhancing existing multiagency collaborations, and (iii) focusing on further opportunities for coordination. Adopting these approaches could enable federal researchers to reinforce and advance academic and industry efforts to address current CEA challenges while solidifying the United States as a leader in this arena.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | pgaf155 |
| Journal | PNAS Nexus |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2025 |
Funding
This work was supported in part by an appointment to the Research Participation Program at the Agricultural Research Service, USDA, administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the US Department of Energy and Agricultural Research Service. Across the US government, there are independent initiatives to promote convergence research and transdisciplinary approaches. For example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently introduced the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships Directorate, which houses a number of cross-cutting, use-inspired research programs (). Similar initiatives exist within other federal research agencies with the goal of promoting innovative, high-risk, high-reward research to meet complex societal challenges. Modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for national security, similar programs for intelligence (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity), energy (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy), health (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health), and agriculture (Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority) have been initiated (). These research structures are in varying stages of funding authorization and execution. In many cases, government-sponsored and subsidized research is integral to developing industries. By providing opportunities for innovation and mechanisms for leveraging government resources, some risks for startup companies may be mitigated.
Keywords
- controlled environment agriculture
- federal research
- multi-institutional collaboration
- sustainable food systems
- transdisciplinary approaches