Mar 17, 2020

National Institute of Food and Agriculture extends deadlines due to COVID-19

Due to the disruptions arising from the national response to COVID-19, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is extending the following deadlines. NIFA will continue to monitor the situation and post updates to this guidance on our web site.

AFRI

The following Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) application submission deadlines will be adjusted, as follows:

      Previous deadline                            New deadline              

      March 19                                            April 2

      March 26                                            April 9

      April 2                                                 April 9

      April 9                                                 April 16

AREERA

Furthermore, NIFA has also extended the submission deadline for the 2021 Plan of Work for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (AREERA) capacity funded projects and programs from April 1st to May 1st.

NIFA’s goal is to provide applicant institutions additional time as they work through any operational challenges within their institutions arising from COVID-19.  Even with increased flexibilities for applicants, NIFA still recommends applicants submit their applications as soon as possible.

At this time, no other deadlines have been extended. NIFA’s policies for accepting late applications are available at online. If your application is delayed for a valid extenuating circumstances, please let the program contact listed in the Request for Application (RFA) know about the potential delay and submit all the required documentation after your application had been submitted to us.  NIFA will consider your request at that time based on the information provided.

NIFA’s mission is to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and extension that solve societal challenges. NIFA’s investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global preeminence of U.S. agriculture.