USDA Revamps Its Competitive Research Grants Program Through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture

The Obama administration leadership team at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seizing the opportunity to refocus the programs of the new National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), including the competitive research program.  These changes will be reflected in the requests for proposals (RFPs) that NIFA plans to publish early next year for the new competitive Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).  Congress has provided $262.5 million for FY 2010 for competitive research grants through AFRI, which represents an increase of $61 million (30 percent) above the FY 2009 level.

Under the leadership of Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, Dr. Rajiv Shah, and the new director of NIFA, Dr. Roger Beachy, the new funding opportunities will emphasize “focus, scale, and impact.” Moreover, NIFA expects to have four to five solicitations focused on the priority areas outlined by Agriculture Secretary Vilsack: 

Food production and sustainability
Improving nutrition and ending child obesity
Food safety
Biofuels and energy
Climate change and environment.

NIFA is likely to commit to larger research grants – in the neighborhood of $2 million per year – and to extend the grants for up to five years.  It is expected that such research initiatives will require multidisciplinary teams of researchers; by contrast, it also seems likely that fewer awards will be made to single investigators. Moreover, with President Obama’s focus on getting results, NIFA will be looking for research that can be replicated or utilized as a model for other crops and systems, or in a global connection to developing countries.

Although Shah’s departure to head the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is imminent, Beachy has taken up the charge to reinvigorate the USDA research enterprise.  In his recent remarks to the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), Beachy laid out his vision for NIFA.

According to Beachy, the USDA research enterprise – both extramural (NIFA) and Intramural (Agricultural Research Service) – should focus most of its resources on accomplishing bold outcomes that will improve human health and protect the environment. Taking advantage of the unique linkage among research, education, and extension at the USDA, the department should ensure that scientific knowledge derived from the research it funds is translated into “real solutions for real people.” In addition to being focused on specific problems at a large enough scale to produce useful outcomes, USDA research should also leverage other funding sources and should be sufficiently compelling to recruit new students to plant and agricultural research.

In his remarks to the APLU, Beachy highlighted a recent National Academy of Sciences Report titled “A New Biology for the 21st Century:  Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution”.  Beachy characterized this report as laying out a “new paradigm for leveraging the expertise across the spectrum of the sciences…to address large, fundamental challenges.”  Beachy believes that the USDA should be part of this revolution.

Beachy also provided some examples of relevant USDA research to address the challenges articulated in the “New Biology” report, including

• A commitment to support crop and animal research aimed at feeding a growing human population that will require a doubling of food production by 2050.  This will require a sustainable system of food production that safeguards natural resources.
• Developing stress-resistant, drought- and heat-tolerant, and saline-resistant crops that can help ensure increases in agricultural productivity despite ongoing climate change.  Similar work is needed in forest management and animal husbandry to develop beneficial traits, as well as more efficient production systems that use less water and other resources.
• Improving child nutrition and preventing obesity. This represents a significant focus area for the USDA, which implements federal food and nutrition programs including the National School Breakfast and Lunch programs.
• Improving food safety by creating new diagnostic tools to identify food pathogens and trace their distribution.
• Developing plant-based feedstocks for biofuels, including advanced biofuels, to help meet the goals of energy independence and security.
• Tying USDA-funded research to the global agricultural community. Such research will require robust international partnerships and a focus on how results can be broadly applied.

To assist researchers, the USDA plans to hold webinars about the funding opportunities through AFRI, although dates for these webinars have yet to be announced. USDA program managers also recommend attendance at one of the USDA grant workshops that are held twice each year.  Although no workshops are currently listed, the materials from previous workshops can be accessed on the USDA website.