(This is cross-posted from the American Peanut Research and Education Society)
RFPs came out last week for the USDA’s 2017 NIFA Agriculture Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants. The purpose of the AFRI is to support research, education, and extension work by awarding grants to solve key problems of local, regional, national, and global importance in sustaining conventional, organic, and urban agricultural systems.
Included in this year’s RFP are three specific topics submitted by the National Peanut Board on behalf of funding partners — The Peanut Foundation, The Peanut Institute and Southeastern Peanut Research Initiative. Each topic is highlighted and bookmarked in the full RFP (here), so that they are easy to find. Below is a brief description of each area and their deadline:
Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems
Closing date: July 12, 2017
Develop Innovations in management of diseases and pests that are costly to and are major deterrents to achieving sustainable yields and high quality in peanut productions.
Plant Breeding for Agricultural Productions
Closing Date: July 19, 2017
Develop and implement genetic and genomic tools to breed for improvements in aflatoxin resistance, disease resistance, size and shape, flavor, nutrient content, or drought tolerance, etc.
Critical Agricultural Research and Extension
Letter of Intent Deadline: May 24, 2017
A NPB co-funding area of opportunity: Identify bioactive compounds within peanuts that may improve cognition in humans