The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued its annual Technology Transfer Report detailing innovations and progress in the U.S. agricultural industry.
USDA said Monday it recorded 278 active Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) and 97 new patent applications in addition to 510 income-bearing licenses in fiscal 2019.
The report's highlights include the development of a data repository for the 2017 Census of Agriculture and the expansion of a public health information system export module meant to automate electronic certification and application procedures.
USDA also gathered data from over 10,000 pesticide samples for the Pesticide Data Program’s website and deployed geospatial intelligence technologies to study flooded areas and potential crop losses in the aftermath of Hurricanes Barry and Dorian, the report states.
“The outcomes and impacts in this comprehensive report represent a tremendous amount of scientific excellence and creativity in finding solutions to complex problems,” said Scott Hutchins, deputy undersecretary of agriculture and head of the department's research, education and economics mission area.
The annual report covers a range of technology transfer topic areas including marketing services, health inspections, economic research, food safety, natural resource conservation and rural development.
