Funding-USDA Awards
More Than $30 Million in Grants for Food Safety and Plant Health Improvements; Varying
- February 29, 2016
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View this release on the NIFA
website. USDA Awards More Than $30
Million in Grants for Food Safety and Plant Health Improvements President’s 2017 Budget Request
Will Propose to Fully Fund USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative,
Doubling Amount That Was Available in 2016 WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2016- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today
announced the award of $30.1 million in competitive grants to fund 80
research projects to improve
food safety, reduce
antibiotic resistance in food, and increase
the resilience of plants in the face of climate change. The grants
are made possible through USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative
(AFRI), the nation’s premier competitive, peer-reviewed grants program for
fundamental and applied agricultural sciences. Dr. John P. Holdren, President Obama’s Science and Technology Advisor
and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,
joined Secretary Vilsack to make the announcement. In addition to the awards made today, Vilsack and Holdren
announced that the President’s 2017 Budget will invest a total of $700
million for AFRI, the fully authorized funding level established by Congress
in the 2008 Farm Bill. In the seven years since AFRI was established, the
program has led to true innovations and ground-breaking discoveries in
agriculture to combat childhood obesity, improve and sustain rural economic
growth, address water availability issues, increase food production, find new
sources of energy, mitigate the impacts of climate variability and enhance
resiliency of our food systems, and ensure food safety. “In the face of diminishing land and water resources and increasingly
variable climatic conditions, food production must increase to meet the
demands of world population projected to pass 9 billion by 2050,” said
Vilsack. “Funding in research to respond to these challenges should be
considered as an investment in our nation’s future, an investment which will
pay big dividends in the years to come.” Since its creation, AFRI has been funded at less than half the levels
established in the 2008 Farm Bill, and USDA has only been able to fund one
out of ten research proposals presented. While grants awarded to
universities, non-profits, community groups, businesses, foundations,
associations, and federal agency and international partnerships have led to
significant achievements that address critical issues related to agriculture,
food, the environment, and communities, thousands of innovative research
proposals have been left unfunded. “Science, technology, and innovation are essential to meeting virtually
every challenge our Nation faces, which is why the Administration has
consistently supported increasing Federal investments in R&D,” said Dr. Holdren. “Further strengthening our investments in agricultural
research will be essential for U.S. farmers to be able to keep the Nation’s
food supply abundant, healthy, reliable, and sustainable through the 21st
century. That’s why the President’s forthcoming 2017 budget request doubles
funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative to the full
authorized level of $700 million.” AFRI grants are administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and
Agriculture (NIFA), which is making today’s awards
through funding provided in fiscal year 2015. NIFA
is awarding $15.1 million to fund 35 projects in AFRI’s Food
Safety area, focused on enhancing food safety through improved
processing technologies, effective mitigation strategies for antimicrobial
resistance, improving food safety, and improving food quality. $3.4 million
of this funding will be used to address antimicrobial resistance throughout
the food chain. Since 2009, more than $82 million in food safety research and
extension grants has been awarded through AFRI. NIFA is also
awarding $15 million today to universities, laboratories, and research
organizations to fund 45 projects in AFRI’s Plant
Health and Production and Plant Products area. These grants focus on
plant breeding for agricultural production; plant growth and development,
composition, and stress tolerance; and photosynthesis and nutrient use in
agricultural plants. Since AFRI’s creation, NIFA has awarded more than $89 million to solve
challenges related to plant health and production. Additional grants
for studies and outreach that address plant protection against microbes,
insects, and weeds will be announced later this year. Established by the 2008 Farm Bill and re-authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill,
the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is the nation’s premier
competitive, peer-reviewed grants program for fundamental and applied
agricultural sciences. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture awards
AFRI grants in six Farm Bill priority areas: plant health and production and
plant products; animal health and production and animal products; food
safety, nutrition, and health; bioenergy, natural resources, and environment;
agriculture systems and technology; and agriculture economics and rural
communities. The Farm Bill builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the
past six years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in
savings for taxpayers. Since enactment, USDA has made significant progress to
implement each provision of this critical legislation, including providing
disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk management tools;
expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research; establishing
innovative public-private conservation partnerships; developing new markets
for rural-made products; and investing in infrastructure, housing and
community facilities to help improve quality of life in rural America. For
more information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill. Since 2009, NIFA has invested in and advanced innovative and
transformative initiatives to solve societal challenges and ensure the
long-term viability of agriculture. NIFA’s integrated research, education,
and extension programs, supporting the best and brightest scientists and
extension personnel, have resulted user-inspired, groundbreaking discoveries
that are combating childhood obesity, improving and sustaining rural economic
growth, addressing water availability issues, increasing food production,
finding new sources of energy, mitigating climate variability, and ensuring
food safety. To learn more about NIFA’s impact on agricultural science, visit
www.nifa.usda.gov/impacts,
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