Biologists fear that agricultural research is under further threat.
The Department of Trade and Industry has asked the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to examine whether its healthcare research or its agricultural research contributes more to wealth creation.
At an open meeting this week, Roy Baker, chief executive of the research council, attempted to start a debate between senior re-searchers. He asked how the BBSRC prioritises its work and whether it should try to discriminate between healthcare and agriculture? The fact that the DTI was asking the BBSRC questions meant the department already knows the answer, he added.
Agricultural researchers have hit back. A recent study in the United States showed that the money earned per dollar invested in research was higher for agriculture than for any other sector, said Chris Pollock of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research in Aberstwyth.
"If anything (agricultural research) in the United Kingdom is more advanced than it is in the United States," he said.
He pointed to the fact that the subject is already suffering following the comprehensive spending review. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is cutting its research budget by Pounds 3 million over the next three years. Researchers at the meeting referred darkly to MAFF's role in the BSE crisis and the need for research in animal health.
Moreover, healthcare research receives funding from more sources than does agricultural research, Pollock added. Of the research councils and charities, healthcare research receives cash from the BBSRC, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, whereas the BBSRC is the main research council for agricultural research.