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It is hereby established as the public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to promote highly technological agriculture, as well as to develop a research plan to address in a prompt and effective manner the urgent needs that arise in agricultural businesses and those areas related to the production of food, adjusted to the needs of our local enterprises and to our condition as a tropical island. The Department of Agriculture, in close collaboration with the Agricultural Sciences College of the University of Puerto Rico and its research component, the Agricultural Experiment Station, shall establish the mechanisms to grant funds to the best proposals, and to identify the priorities, personnel, and resources necessary to guarantee the success of this Program. The Research Program and the use of the funds made available through this chapter shall be directly and closely focused on the public policy of agricultural development, as established by the Secretary of Agriculture. It is the Secretary who shall finally approve the Research Program and shall submit recommendations for the best operation thereof. History —Mar. 18, 2008, No. 26, § 2, eff. 30 days after Mar. 18, 2008.