This $497,827 federal Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (CFDA 10.310 - Agriculture and Food Research Initiative) to Auburn University aims to develop climate-resilient Southern highbush blueberry cultivars for small- and mid-sized growers in underserved regions of the Southeastern U.S. Through collaborative cultivar evaluation with four other breeding programs, the project will: (I) develop new blueberry varieties adapted for...
This $300,000 federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program will support research at the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGA Research Foundation) to increase the economic sustainability of blueberry fields in the southeastern United States. The project aims to examine the impacts of selective pruning techniques on the commercial life, fruit production, and quality of blueberry crops in the...
This $720,462 Project Grant was awarded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) on July 1, 2024 to the University of Wisconsin System. The project aims to develop new methods and software to overcome technical obstacles in using genomic selection for breeding potato and blueberry crops. The key products to be delivered include: New computational methods and user-friendly software to calculate genomic inbreeding rates...
This $3,952,330 Project Grant awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) under the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (CFDA 10.309) aims to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of the U.S. blueberry industry by developing methods to improve fruit quality and reduce crop loss. The research team will address challenges to blueberry fruit quality through objectives such as measuring pathogen diversity, collecting crop...
This $300,000 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) project grant, awarded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (CFDA 10.310), aims to measure the effects of plant growth regulator (PGR) treatments on the volatile chemistry, sugar, and anthocyanin content of strawberries and blueberries. The project has three key objectives: 1) evaluate how three PGR treatments impact flavor volatiles, sugars, and anthocyanins; 2) elucidate the underlying mechanisms by measuring the...
This $5,176,559 project grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Specialty Crop Research Initiative will enable genomics-assisted specialty crop breeding and research through advanced database resources. Over its four year period from September 2022 to September 2026, the grant will support the collection and curation of various types of genomics, genetics and breeding data from specialty crops into specialized genome databases for...
This $225,000.00 Project Grant was awarded on June 1, 2025 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) program. The grant was awarded to the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, a nonprofit research organization located in Huntsville, Alabama. The grant will support fundamental and applied research, extension, and education projects focused on developing genomic tools and resources for...
This federal Project Grant award, provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310), will examine the effectiveness of horticultural recovery practices and the application of humic substances to enhance the root growth of blueberry plants following hurricane damage. The $299,941 award to the University of Georgia Research Foundation will employ rigorous plant physiological measurements...
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture was awarded a $629,392 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program. The grant will fund research to develop improved flavor selection methods for blackberry breeding programs. Specifically, the researchers will combine consumer sensory panel data and metabolomic data on volatile and nonvolatile compounds...
This federal Project Grant award, valued at $649,753.00, was provided by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310). The grant supports research at North Carolina State University (NC State) to investigate the relationship between the chlorogenic acid content of blueberries and their ability to lower trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) levels and prevent atherosclerosis. The key products and services to...