H.R. 5208 · 115th Congress
Seeds for the Future Act
- Stage
- In committee
- Sponsor
- Mark Pocan
- Introduced
- 2018-03-07
- Latest action
- 2018-03-28 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research.
Summary
Seeds for the Future Act
This bill amends the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act to require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure that at least $50 million of USDA grant funding is used each year for competitive research grants that support the development of public cultivars.
A "cultivar" is a variety of plant that has been intentionally selected for use in cultivation because of its improved characteristics. A "public cultivar" is the commercially available uniform end product of a publicly funded breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance.
The bill also amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish a public cultivar research activities coordinator within USDA to coordinate research activities relating to the breeding of public cultivars.