National Institute of Food and Agriculture Grants

The AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program supports grants in six AFRI priority areas to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture. The six priority areas are: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities. Research-only, extension-only, and integrated research, education and/or extension projects are solicited in this Request for Applications (RFA). See Foundational and Applied Science RFA for specific detail.

The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Education and Workforce Development (EWD) focuses on developing the next generation of research, education, and extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) requests applications for the AFRI’s Education and Workforce Development program areas to support: 1. professional development opportunities for K-14 educational professionals; 2. non-formal education that cultivates food and agricultural interest in youth; 3. workforce training at community, junior, and technical colleges; 4. training of undergraduate students in research and extension; 5. fellowships for predoctoral candidates; 6. fellowships for postdoctoral scholars; and 7. education and workforce development workshop grants.

TCRGP focuses on development of research capacity at Tribal colleges, specifically in agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. The program aims to teach leadership skills, knowledge, and qualities that are necessary to prepare students to be competitive with other students for agricultural and related careers in the private sector, government, and academia. Of interest are the projects involving innovative agricultural technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), data science, robotics, and other cutting edge digital tools. NIFA encourages incorporation of opportunities for training undergraduate students in these areas to equip them with the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to adapt to and thrive in an increasingly digital society and expose them to educational and career pathways in AI for food and agricultural sciences.

The purpose of HEC, under assistance listing 10.217, is to strengthen institutional capacities, including curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, and student recruitment and retention. The HEC program is focused on developing and improving formal master’s or doctorate degree-level food and agricultural sciences education and first professional degree-level education in veterinary medicine, such as a doctorate in veterinary medicine (DVM).

The purpose of the 1890 Scholarships Program, under Assistance Listing Number 10.524, is to provide scholarships to support recruiting, engaging, retaining, mentoring, and training of undergraduate and graduate students at the 1890 Land-grant institutions. These scholarships are intended to encourage outstanding students at 1890 institutions to pursue and complete baccalaureate and graduate (i.e., master’s and doctoral) degrees in the food and agricultural sciences (see Appendix III for definition) that would lead to a highly skilled food and agricultural systems workforce.

The purpose of the NNF program, Assistance Listing 10.210, is to provide funding to support new graduate (master’s, DVM, or doctoral) student training and completion of degree programs to develop human capital to participate in meeting the mission of the USDA to increase the pipeline of domestic agricultural students. The NNF program offers funding for eligible full-time students pursuing graduate studies at the master’s, DVM, or doctoral levels within the food and agricultural sciences. The NNF program awards institutional grants to offer funding for eligible full-time students pursuing graduate studies at the master’s, DVM, and/or doctoral levels within the food and agricultural sciences. Fellows must be new graduate students (‘new’ is defined in Part III A); and citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States. Awards made by the NNF program are specifically intended to support graduate programs that engage outstanding students who are citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States of America to pursue and complete their degrees in areas where there is a need for the development of scientific and professional expertise in the food and agricultural sciences. NNF awards invest in graduate training and relevant experiential learning for individuals who demonstrate their potential to successfully complete graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the USDA.

The goal of the FADI-EDEN program, under assistance listing 10.304, is to support CES’s ability to maximize the resilience of the U.S. food and agriculture sector to biosecurity risks, weather events and disasters, cyber threats, and other shocks through the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN). EDEN is a national, collaborative network of CES professionals who are dedicated to improved all-hazards management of domestic disasters. EDEN supports all-hazards capacity-building efforts for peer CES professionals so that they are prepared for and skilled in directly providing education and technical assistance to farmers, youth and families, small businesses, and communities. The FADI-EDEN program provides coordination support and administrative leadership to EDEN so that it can achieve its mission.

The purpose of ARME, Assistance Listing 10.520, is to educate agricultural producers about the full range of risk management activities. These activities include futures, options, agricultural trade options, crop insurance, cash forward contracting, debt reduction, production diversification, marketing plans and tactics, farm resources risk reduction, and other appropriate risk management strategies. The program authority specifies that special emphasis shall be placed on farm viability and risk management strategies (including farm financial benchmarking, business planning and technical assistance, market assessment, transfer and succession planning, and crop insurance participation), education, and outreach specifically focused at farmers and ranchers in Section 133 of the Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000 ( 7 U.S.C. 1524 (a) ) .

The TCEG program (assistance listing 10.221) is designed to help build Tribal education capacity in the food and agricultural sciences for Native Alaskan/American Indian students. This NOFO will begin a new four-year continuation funding cycle. The six legislatively mandated priorities are: • Curricula design and materials development. • Faculty development and teacher preparation. • Student experiential learning • Equipment and instrumentation for teaching science, technology, engineering, arts and math. • Student recruitment and retention. • Instruction delivery systems and strategic partnerships.

The NLGCA Program, under assistance listing number 10.326, will assist NLGCA institutions in maintaining and expanding their capacity to conduct education, research, outreach, and integrated activities relating to agriculture, renewable resources, and other similar disciplines. NLGCA institutions may use the funds to maintain and expand capacity: 1. to successfully compete for funds from Federal grants and other sources to carry out educational, research, outreach, and integrated activities that address priority concerns of national, regional, State, and local interest; 2. to disseminate information relating to priority concerns to: a. interested members of the agriculture, renewable resources, and other relevant communities; b. the public; and c. any other interested entity; 3. to encourage members of the agriculture, renewable resources, and other relevant communities to participate in priority education, research, outreach, and integrated activities by providing matching funds to leverage grant resources, and through: a. the purchase or other acquisition of equipment and other infrastructure (not including alteration, repair, renovation, or construction of buildings); b. the professional growth and development of the faculty of the NLGCA Institution; and c. the development of graduate assistantships.

The TCEP-SE under assistance listing 10.517, provides informal, community-focused extension pilot projects at 1994 Institutions. Pilot projects may focus on community needs that address emerging issues such as agricultural productivity, improving food systems, community vitality, workforce and economic development, public health and well-being, engaging Tribal youths, and preparing the next generation of Tribal agriculture leaders.

In FY 2026, the ECDRE program, under Assistance Listing 10.309, is soliciting proposals to develop effective tactics and strategies to control HLB and its disease complex for financially sustainable citrus production in the United States. All projects funded by the ECDRE program will incorporate collaborative approaches that integrate available knowledge to develop new solutions that can be deployed by growers to manage and prevent HLB infection in the near term.