Project Grant 20206702133116

This Project Grant award for $615,319 from the Department of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) program supports the development of an autonomous "bio-cell" farming system to address the decline in U.S. tomato production. Key project objectives are to: 1) Develop engineering technologies for plant phenotyping, monitoring, and autonomous task performance; 2) Integrate advanced data analytics methods to guide decision-making and communication of...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Office of International Science and Engineering (CFDA 47.079) is providing $300,000 to Georgia Tech Research Corporation to advance innovations in digital agriculture and optimization through an international research network. The "AI4OPT-AG" project will leverage controlled-environment agriculture and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced data analytics to enhance global food...

Verdant Robotics, Inc. will receive $650,000 under a three-year Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop a bio-economic farm model and test next generation precision agriculture technologies. The funding is provided through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. Specifically, Verdant Robotics and Professor Aaron Smith will create a mechanistic tool to model the economic and agroecological value...

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a $650,000 Project Grant to Agrofocal Technologies, Inc. under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212). The funding supports the development of Agrofocal's real-time crop monitoring system that can be mounted on any vehicle to provide high-resolution, under-the-canopy images of crops. This system enables farmers to monitor crop health,...

The federal Project Grant award of $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program supports the "E-GROW" project. This 4-year project, led by Cornell University, aims to develop youth interest and competency in agricultural technology (AgTech) for food production in controlled environment agriculture (CEA). The project will pilot a CEA certificate program at 10 middle and high schools in several states, reaching an...

The Regents of the University of Minnesota has been awarded a $1,314,290.19 Project Grant from the USDA's Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) program. The four-year grant, which began on September 15, 2023, aims to increase the adoption of cover cropping practices among organic high tunnel vegetable producers in the Upper Midwest and New England. Through on-farm trials, replicated experiments, educational case studies, and farmer training programs, the project will:...

This $3,477,477 Project Grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (CFDA 10.307) program. The overall goal is to expand organic production tools to overcome biotic and abiotic challenges for specialty crops in the Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast regions. The University of Kentucky Research Foundation will conduct field experiments and on-farm trials to optimize the...

This $600,969 Project Grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (CFDA 10.310 - Agriculture and Food Research Initiative) supports the development of an "Electroponics" system for the precision delivery of water and agrichemicals to crops. The project aims to address challenges posed by climate change and population growth, including water scarcity and inefficient agrichemical application, through an interdisciplinary...

Organicsmart Inc. received a $255,786 National Science Foundation Project Grant under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to develop a hybrid blockchain technology enabling safe and transparent distribution of perishable goods. The award period runs from March 15, 2022 through October 31, 2022. Specifically, Organicsmart will develop a sensor-aware hybrid blockchain and distributed acyclic graph to securely track transactions and maintain quality for perishable foods throughout the supply...

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service awarded a $2,867,000 cooperative agreement to Organic Farmers Association under the Market Protection and Promotion federal grant program (CFDA #10.163). The purpose is to provide technical support, mentorship, online resources, education, and networking opportunities for transitioning and organic farmers across the United States, including underserved groups. Organic Farmers Association will administer the agreement and collaborate...