National Program 216 -- Sustainable Agricultural Systems Research Action Plan 2018-2022

The National Program 216 -- Sustainable Agricultural Systems Research Action Plan 2018-2022 is a national sectoral action plan of the United States of America. Its main mission is to build the science-based foundations for farming systems of the future using a systems approach without bias for particular science discipline. Producers will be equipped with actionable genetic and management options offering multiple routes to achieving the four goals of sustainable agriculture: 1) desired quantity and quality of yields, 2) economic viability and competitiveness, 3) environmental enhancement, and 4) quality of life for rural populations and society as a whole.
The goal of the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Research Program (NP 216) is to utilize transdisciplinary research teams to develop and integrate information from a diverse set of technologies around the genetics x environment x management (G x E x M) concept to develop and evaluate practices that optimize production efficiency, productivity, profitability, energy efficiency, resilience, and natural resource enhancement for agricultural systems across the United States. The 216 National Program is organized into three components: Building Agroecosystems for Intensive, Resilient Production via GxExM; Increasing Efficiency of Agroecosystems; and Achieving Agroecosystem Potential. These three component areas focus on what can be implemented to improve production efficiency within the field, what can be done to limit the offsite impact and enhance ecosystem services, identify the limitations to productivity, sustainability, and resilience of agricultural systems, and integrate knowledge gleaned to optimize agricultural systems at the field and farm scale.