Project Grant 20227000538273

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Program (CFDA 10.330) will provide $880,275 to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to test alternative pesticides and non-pesticide control methods to manage the Lygus bug, a major insect pest of alfalfa grown for seed production. The goal is to provide alfalfa seed growers with effective Lygus control recommendations that increase...

Cornell University was awarded a $180,000 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. The grant will fund research from June 2023 through June 2026 to understand virus-insect molecular interactions related to the transmission of plant viruses by aphids. Specifically, the research aims to study the proteins and mechanisms insects use to transmit viruses,...

This federal Project Grant award from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) (CFDA 10.310) provides $735,923 to the Regents of the University of California at Riverside to study the transmission dynamics of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. The goal is to identify components of the pathogen-insect-plant interface that could be disrupted to control diseases caused by X. fastidiosa, such as olive quick decline and citrus...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a 3-year, $946,349 Project Grant under the Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Program (CFDA #10.330) to Michigan State University. The grant supports research to improve understanding of autotoxicity in alfalfa, a complex issue that limits alfalfa establishment and stand persistence. Key objectives include: Identifying autotoxic compounds in alfalfa using a soil bioassay and examining their production...

The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded North Carolina State University a $750,000 Project Grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. The three-year award running from February 1, 2023 to January 31, 2026 will support research to develop new approaches to disrupt the interaction between tomato spotted wilt virus and its insect vector, Frankliniella occidentalis. Specifically, the university will identify...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) awarded a $650,000 project grant to Colorado State University's Sponsored Programs division. The grant will fund the design and testing of a novel viral herbicide to selectively target and inhibit the growth of Palmer amaranth, an invasive weed that causes an estimated $33 billion in annual losses to U.S. agriculture. The project aims to develop a biocontainment system to restrict the virus's...

This Project Grant award from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) provides $682,500 to Texas A&M AgriLife Research to identify bacterial effectors from plant pathogens transmitted by psyllid insects, and evaluate their role in infecting plants and arthropod vectors. The goal is to develop new control strategies that disrupt pathogen transmission and plant infection. This original research will study the parallel...

Cornell University will receive $180,000 under a three-year Project Grant award from the US Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program (AFRI, CFDA No. 10.310). The project aims to clarify the relationship between genetic diversity of the Asian citrus psyllid vector and transmission of "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus," the bacterial pathogen that causes huanglongbing (HLB) or...

The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture received a $120,000 project grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The grant, awarded on August 15, 2024, will support research examining the impact of sublethal insecticide exposure on the vector competence of Culicoides biting midges for Bluetongue virus transmission. The goal is to inform producers and applicators about the risks associated...

The University of California, Davis received a $946,349 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Program (CFDA 10.330). The grant supports research to breed alfalfa cultivars that are resilient to late summer water stress and test commercial and experimental alfalfa cultivars under deficit irrigation conditions in UT and CA. The project aims to identify high-yield, drought-tolerant alfalfa cultivars and document water savings from deficit...