Cooperative Agreement 5860903007

This two-year, $120,000 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) will fund research into the anti-inflammatory effects of resistant starch from whole grain sorghum in a mouse model. Specifically, the University of Nebraska will use near-isogenic low-resistant starch sorghum mutants and parental varieties to investigate how resistant starch in a whole food...

The University of Wisconsin-Madison received a two-year, $264,000 Project Grant award from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. The grant will fund research into sweet corn sugar and starch composition through identification and analysis of genes that modify these traits, such as the Sugary Enhancer 1 gene. The university will produce and analyze the SE1 protein, identify other...

This four-year project grant, awarded April 1, 2026, by the Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Foundational and Applied Science Program (CFDA 10.310), provides $617,000 in funding to Kansas State University to develop herbicide-tolerant pearl millet grain and forage hybrids. The project addresses the Plant Breeding for Agricultural Production Program (Code A1141) and aims to improve yield, nutritional...

The University of California, Riverside received a $180,000 Project Grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. The three-year award will support research examining the genetic regulatory networks controlling the development of suberized transport barriers in rice root cells, which show plasticity in response to water stress. Understanding these networks...

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) awarded a $125,000 Project Grant to the Asociacion De Comites Ecologicos Del SUR De Honduras (ACESH) under the IAF Assistance for Overseas Programs (CFDA 85.750). The grant supports community-led efforts in Concepcion de Maria, Honduras to expand economic opportunity and strengthen community organizations. Specifically, ACESH is working to strengthen the productive and organizational capacity of community-based farmer organizations to create grain and native...

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) awarded a $277,000 Project Grant under its IAF Assistance for Overseas Programs (CFDA 85.750) to the Consejo De Cuenca RIO Goascoran in Honduras. The grant supports community-led efforts to expand economic opportunity and strengthen community organizations in the rural area of Concepcion de Maria, which faces frequent drought and food insecurity. The grantee, the Asociacion de Comites Ecologicos del Sur de Honduras (ACESH), will work to strengthen the...

The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Astalake Biosystems, Inc. $181,500 under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to develop improved alfalfa varieties through synthetic biology. Alfalfa is a perennial legume with potential benefits to soil health, environmental health, and animal and human nutrition. Under this one-year project grant running from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, Astalake Biosystems will utilize its synthetic...

Federal Grant Award Summary Kansas State University received a $618,000 project grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310) on April 3, 2026. The project, with a completion date of April 2, 2030, focuses on developing maize cultivars with enhanced tolerance to combined heat and drought stress, particularly during the critical pollen development stage that directly...

Federal Grant Award Summary The University of California Office of the President's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources received a $588,000 Project Grant from the Institute of Food Production and Sustainability under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI, CFDA 10.310) awarded August 1, 2025, with completion scheduled for July 31, 2028. The project will develop water use curves for silage sorghum in drought-prone southwestern agricultural regions, addressing a critical...

Summary The University of Nebraska–Lincoln received a $455,700 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310), effective August 1, 2025, through July 31, 2029. The project will develop and evaluate gluten-free food products—including cereals, crackers, and grain pouches—formulated with whole grain sumac sorghum (high phenolic content), whole grain white...