(505 ILCS 135/3) (from Ch. 5, par. 2653)
Sec. 3.
There is hereby established in the Department of Agriculture
a program to be known as the "Sustainable Agriculture Program". The
purposes of the program are as follows:
(1) To identify agricultural practices that maintain productivity and
minimize environmental degradation.
(2) To relate overland runoff, sediment transport, streamflow quantity
and quality, and ground water quantity (recharge) and quality to specific
agricultural practices.
(3) To integrate and coordinate experiment field and on-farm research
and educational efforts of cooperating individuals, agencies, institutions,
and organizations.
(4) To test and refine alternative approaches to organizing and
conducting on-farm research and demonstration projects.
(5) To test the organizational approach of joint farmer/specialist
development of a computerized decision support system (expert system) as an
approach to fostering sustainable agriculture.
(6) To develop an expert system embodying the expertise of experienced
farmers and agency, institutional, and agribusiness specialists to help
answer the question of what tillage and crop management system should be used
in a particular field in a particular year.
(7) To test the usefulness of the existing conservation tillage
knowledge base in making tillage system selection, implementation, and
management decisions.
(8) To identify the most critical needs for research and educational
programs related to sustainable agriculture.
(Source: P.A. 86-1022.)
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