Project Grant 20213353035354

This $650,000 federal Project Grant award from the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program supports the development of an eco-friendly and nutritious cricket protein powder. The funding will enable Mighty Cricket, Inc., a small, woman-owned business, to raise crickets on diets formulated from pre-consumer food waste. The project aims to optimize the crickets' growth rates, feed conversion ratios, and nutritional profiles, while...

This federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (CFDA 10.212) provides $125,000 to Prag LLC to automate the black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) composting and preservation process into a single, off-grid system. The goal is to efficiently produce preserved larvae as an economical feed source for local farmers like Mr. Plasencia, reducing his time and costs...

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Mighty Cricket, Inc. a $131,500 Project Grant under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) from July 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024. Mighty Cricket will research using food waste to produce lower-cost cricket feed, collecting data on waste-based feed performance versus standard feed in terms of cost savings, cricket growth rates, and...

This federal Project Grant award of $591,500 was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The objective of the project is to improve understanding of the anti-pathogen activity and nutritional composition of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) reared on poultry processing waste, with the goal of developing BSFL-based poultry feed products that have enhanced antimicrobial...

This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), under the Integrated Programs (CFDA 10.303), provides $996,545.00 to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville to conduct research on the potential of harvested insects and commercially raised crickets as sustainable sources of methionine for organic poultry diets. The key objectives are to: 1) analyze the microbiological safety and nutrient composition of insect-based meals to formulate broiler...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $717,070 Project Grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program to The Ohio State University. The grant, awarded on September 1, 2024, supports a multidisciplinary research initiative to develop sustainable extraction methods for obtaining protein, lipids, and valuable components from insect meal. This will enable the creation of innovative food products using 3-D...

Biomilitus LLC received a $254,689 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation on February 1, 2021 to optimize black soldier fly genetics and husbandry for industrialization of organic waste biocnversion. The award was made under the NSF's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), which seeks to improve quality of life and economic strength through engineering research and education. Specifically, the nine-month project focused on developing and refining techniques for breeding black...

The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Auburn University a $650,000 project grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. The four-year project aims to develop and validate a novel waste-to-feed biotechnology to convert aquaculture waste into single cell protein as aquafeed supplements. This integrated approach solves dual problems in aquaculture production by providing a sustainable nutrient source for aquafeed...

This Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP) Grants Program (CFDA 10.935) provides $125,000 to the City of Orlando to develop an off-grid, solar-powered community compost and education center at the South Street Farm in the Parramore neighborhood. The facility will enable composting of food waste without odors or pests, collecting and using rainwater. This pilot project aims to serve as a proof of concept for...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $262,737.48 project grant to Colorado State University under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The goal of this 2-year project is to develop an AI-based decision support system that will allow farmers and other stakeholders to identify agricultural pests by uploading cellphone photos to a mobile application. This system will target pests of small grains in the Inland...