Sep 11, 2015

USDA awards $8.3 million in grants to support agriculture research

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded more than $8.3 million in grants to small businesses for advanced research and development projects that will lead to technological innovations and solutions for American agriculture. NIFA awarded 85 grants through Phase I of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

“Small business owners are naturally creative and driven people, making them adept at devising solutions to the tough issues we face in agriculture today,” said Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director. “The SBIR program has enabled small businesses to explore new ideas, leading to innovative technologies and processes that benefit us all.”

The SBIR program stimulates technological innovations in the private sector and strengthens the role of federal research and development in support of small businesses. The program fosters and encourages participation by women-owned and socially or economically disadvantaged small businesses.

Companies initially apply for Phase I feasibility studies, which may be followed by Phase II research and development projects. Phase I grants are limited to $100,000 and a duration of eight months, while Phase II grants are limited to $500,000 and a duration of 24 months. Approximately 30-40 percent of Phase I projects continue onto Phase II.

Recent examples of successful SBIR projects include work by the Nitrate Elimination Company, Inc. that developed kits that allow farm managers to rapidly determine nitrate levels in plants; a project by Whole Trees, LLC that developed a new market for small-diameter round timber – a waste product of well-managed forests; and research by Stony Creek Colors that developed a natural indigo dye for blue jeans, providing  tobacco farmers a substitute cash crop to grow, indigo. See more examples of SBIR-funded projects in the SBIR brochure available on the NIFA website.

To see projects that will receive USDA funding, view a list of the 2015 SBIR awards.