USDA to invest $48 million in specialty crop research

USDA to invest $48 million in specialty crop research

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture will distribute $48 million for fiscal year 2018 in specialty crops research grants.

Funding, made through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, will give dollars toward projects for research and extension activities to enhance productivity, safety, and innovation in the specialty crop industry, according to a news release. 

The application deadline for grants is Dec. 8, and the process can be done online.

“To be competitive in a global market, U.S. specialty crop producers need to use sophisticated technologies and prudent practices,” NIFA director Sonny Ramaswamy said in the release. 

“These NIFA investments support large-scale systems projects that we expect will result in knowledge, which can promote efficient and effective production, processing, and distribution practices, along with long-term solutions to specialty crop industry challenges.”

The USDA has descriptions of all the previously funded specialty crops research projects online.
 

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