10.307: Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative

10.307

Active

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) [USDA]

Aug. 4, 2022

Aug. 4, 2022

Facilitate the development of organic agriculture production, breeding, and processing methods. Functionally identify soil microbial communities and ways to manage microbial dynamics to enhance nutrient cycling and disease suppression; Develop systemic approaches to weed, insect and disease management; Prevent, control, and treat internal and external parasites in various livestock species; and Breed crops for disease and insect resistance, good yield in a biologically diverse system, compatibility with intercrops, good response to organic fertility sources, horizontal resistance (traits determined by multiple genes). Evaluate the potential economic benefits to producers and processors who use organic methods. Analyze potential economic costs, returns and risks of organic production systems; Use environmental valuation tools to quantify externalities of producing food, and compare externalities of producing organic and conventional food; - Analyze price and market structures, including ability of small, medium-, and large-scale growers to access different markets, in order to frame policies that minimize concentration within the industry; and Analyze marketing channels to document how organic food is distributed, what share of the organic food dollar is returned to the farmer, and the implications of large-scale manufacturers entering the organic market. Explore international trade opportunities for organically grown and processed agricultural commodities. Compare compatibility of certification standards used in different parts of the world, with the ultimate goal of harmonization and reciprocity; Undertake marketing studies of international consumer demand for U.S. produced organic goods; and Perform Welfare analyses (quantified gains and losses for producers and consumers) of trade policies affecting international competitiveness, including implementation of the National Organic Program, domestic support programs such as the Conservation Security Act, country of origin labeling, GMO labeling, etc. Determine desirable traits for organic commodities. Examine relationships between nutrients in the soil and nutrients in the food grown on that soil, including long-term soil nutrient and crop nutrient profiles under conventional and organic management; Perform comparisons of nutrient levels between organic and conventional crops and relationship, if any, between taste and nutrient profile; Investigate the role of post-harvest handling and treatment in the maintenance of quality in fresh market organic products; and Determine the reasons for consumer preferences for organic goods. Identify marketing and policy constraints on the expansion of organic agriculture. Analyze opportunities and constraints to organic agriculture resulting from provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002; Investigate specific barriers to markets, such as scale-based regulations that restrict family farm access to processors and/or markets; Study negative lender perception of organic farming and ways to change this; and Analyze regulatory barriers, such as lack of access to Federal farm programs, and developing solutions to these challenges. Conduct advanced on-farm research and development that emphasizes observation of, experimentation with, and innovation for working organic farms, including research relating to production and marketing and to socioeconomic conditions. (Note: Many topics from other goal areas can be conducted on working farms.) Develop rigorous on-farm systems research designs; and Conduct long-term, interdisciplinary systems research.

B - Project Grants

Applications may only be submitted by the following entities: 1. State agricultural experiment stations; 2. Colleges and universities; 3. University research foundations; 4. Other research institutions and organizations; 5. Federal agencies; 6. National laboratories; 7. Private organizations, foundations, or corporations; 8. Individuals who are United States citizens or nationals; or 9. A group consisting of two or more of the entities described in subparagraphs(1) through (8).

Applications may only be submitted by the following entities: 1. State agricultural experiment stations; 2. Colleges and universities; 3. University research foundations; 4. Other research institutions and organizations; 5. Federal agencies; 6. National laboratories; 7. Private organizations, foundations, or corporations; 8. Individuals who are United States citizens or nationals; or 9. A group consisting of two or more of the entities described in subparagraphs(1) through (8).

10.303 - Integrated Programs

https://sam.gov/fal/d66a079560ff4b91a7caaaedee3bce63/view