I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2809
To establish a national research program to improve the production and
marketing of sweet potatoes and increase the consumption and use of
sweet potatoes by domestic and foreign consumers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 29, 1993
Mr. LANCASTER (for himself, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr.
FIELDS of Louisiana, Mr. HAYES, Mr. HEFNER, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr.
JEFFERSON, Mr. NEAL of North Carolina, Mr. PARKER, Mr. ROSE, Mr.
THOMPSON, Mr. VALENTINE, and Mr. WHITTEN) introduced the follow-
ing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To establish a national research program to improve the
production and marketing of sweet potatoes and increase
the consumption and use of sweet potatoes by domestic
and foreign consumers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sweet Potato Research
and Production Improvement Act of 1993’’.
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SEC. 2. NATIONAL SWEET POTATO RESEARCH PROGRAM.
(a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Agriculture, acting
through the Agricultural Research Service or through co-
operative agreements with land-grant colleges and univer-
sities, shall conduct research regarding sweet potatoes, in-
cluding research to develop—
(1) widely adapted, high-quality cultivars of
sweet potato with increased yields and improved lev-
els of disease and pest resistance for traditional
markets and alternative uses;
(2) environmentally compatible management
technologies to control diseases, nematodes, insects,
and weeds that limit sweet potato production in the
United States, including effective controls for sweet
potato weevils in host and nonhost crops;
(3) detection and monitoring systems for male
and female sweet potato weevils in sweet potato stor-
age facilities and in field and seed bed plantings;
(4) integrated crop management practices for
sweet potatoes that effectively combine cultural and
biological controls, environmentally rational chemical
usage, and host resistance;
(5) improved technology for more efficient har-
vesting, grading, and storage of sweet potatoes;
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(6) improved technology for processing sweet
potatoes for both traditional and nontraditional food
products; and
(7) methods to increase sweet potato consump-
tion and uses while also removing possible barriers
that limit sweet potato use in both domestic and ex-
port markets.
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agri-
culture to carry out this section $2,400,000 for fiscal year
1994 and each subsequent fiscal year. Of the amounts ap-
propriated for a fiscal year under this section—
(1) not more than $400,000 shall be available
for research described in subsection (a)(1);
(2) not more than $500,000 shall be available
for research described in subsections (a)(2) and
(a)(3);
(3) not more than $400,000 shall be available
for research described in subsection (a)(4);
(4) not more than $400,000 shall be available
for research described in subsection (a)(5);
(5) not more than $400,000 shall be available
for research described in subsection (a)(6); and
(6) not more than $300,000 shall be available
for research described in subsection (a)(7).