SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS December, 1969 RELEVANT RESEARCH AREAS AND ORGANIZATIONAL QUESTIONS RELATIVE TO FEDERAL-STATE RESEARCH PROGRAMS IN THE ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

In dealing with the subject of federal-state research or Federal agency. programs, I shall summarize areas and topics for re-search as visualized by some of those engaged in There are many alternative approaches to organizing production economics research in the southern region, cooperative Federal-State research in production eco-and raise some questions relative to organization for nomics. No single approach is universally appropriate. Federal-State cooperation on research programsOften the major problem is not organizing the research per se but organizing and coordinating the personnel Complicating the problem of coordination of who are responsible for executing the research. I am effort is the traditional compartmentalization of re- of the opinion that the problems of coordination and search and the entanglement one often encounters in cooperation diminish with increased involvement insearch and the entangle ent one often encounters mn the planning of a research project by those who are to administrative procedures when encroaching into areas e plnnin f a research project by those who are t and topics of research claimed by others. To be in a be responsible for the research. A cooperative team position to evaluate agricultural policy alternatives, spirit among personne involved in research is not and to analyze the impact of research on people, on likely to be attained by administrative decree. the rural economy, and the total economy of a region, POSSIBLE AREAS OF RESEARC