AGRICULTURE RESEARCH FUNDING MAY WITHER UNDER REPUBLICAN CONTRACT WITH AMERICA - LAND-GRANT COLLEGE OFFICIALS FEAR THEIR INSTITUTIONS MAY BE AMONG HARDEST HIT IF PROPOSED POLICY IS ENACTED

Agricultural scientists and research administrators, especially those at land-grant colleges, say that flat budgets and recent turmoil in th e United States Department of Agriculture are considerably less signif icant problems than the new Republican-controlled Congress' ''Contract with America,'' which calls for devastating cuts in the department's research funding.