Topeka ? Kansas State University is considering the construction of a major research facility that would focus on food and cost $150 million.

The proposal was discussed briefly on Tuesday during a budget session of the Kansas Board of Regents.

K-State President Kirk Schulz requested $5 million in state funding in the next fiscal year to the College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension to plan what is being called the Food Systems Research and Education Facility.

He indicated the project may be a few years down the road, but he wanted to start getting legislators and other state officials familiar with the request. Schulz also said it could involve the construction of several buildings.

Schulz said the goal is to make K-State the top university in the world when it comes to research on food issues. It would also tie in to research on energy and water issue, he said.

The 200,000 square-foot facility would house labs, modern greenhouses, classrooms and extension and distance education space. The College of Agriculture, he said, is rapidly growing, increasing by more than 1,000 students over the past 10 years to reach a total of nearly 3,300.

He said he expected the project would be built with a combination of federal, state and private funding.

“It will require all three to participate to make this a reality,” Schulz said.

At $150 million, the project would be twice as expensive as a proposed new health education building at the Kansas University Medical Center. KU also has embarked on a nearly $100 million plan to replace Malott Hall with two buildings that will make up what is being called the Earth, Energy and Environment Center.

Schulz and regents members said the proposal would complement research at the planned National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, adjacent to K-State.

The $1 billion NBAF, expected to start operating in 2022, will focus primarily on infectious animal-borne diseases and threats to the food supply.

Research at the proposed K-State facility would also focus on the food supply, such as developing higher yielding crops, more intensive cropping systems and improved processing and distribution systems.

“NBAF is a great victory for the state, and we need to build on it,” said Regent Fred Logan. “We just want to keep building on our victories,” he said.

Under a preliminary timetable, K-State hopes to receive the $5 million planning grant in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2015. That would mean the school could start construction on the facility in 2017-18 with completion set two years later.

Jack Martin, a spokesman for KU, said he wasn’t familiar with K-State’s proposal but added, “given the challenges our state, nation and world face with regards to new forms of energy and clean sources of water, one would think there is room for many different approaches.”