Summary: The objectives of this project were: 1. To protect funding for ongoing research programs and to seek funding for new proposals identified as significant and beneficial to the Washington State tree fruit industry; 2. To broaden cooperative efforts with other tree fruit industry groups and expand those efforts to include other specialty crop groups that share a common interest in research proposals; 3. To use that expanded cooperative efforts to strengthen the ability to influence Congress and the Administration in designing and directing research funding to areas of interest to the Washington State tree fruit industry; 4. To keep the Commission informed of developments in both the Congress and the Administration that impact on ongoing or future research funding; 5. To identify and take advantage of opportunities that could arise that would aid the tree fruit industry in its efforts to secure broader and more sustainable research funding for the four major research initiatives identified in the National Technology Roadmap; and, 6. To pursue specific activities related to high priority research initiatives, including but not limited to: a. Strengthening the funding base for the USDA-ARS apple rootstock breeding program in Geneva, New York; b. Expanding USDA-ARS pear genomics, genetics, and breeding efforts in the Pacific Northwest; c. Increasing better understanding of the importance of expansion of the automation, engineering and technology initiative to establish a basis for moving forward with specific research funding in this area.
