Speciality Crop Funding Opportunity

by Rick Koelsch, March 26, 2014

(North Central Region Water Network - next article below)

(Teams Forming for USDA Water Funding - scroll two articles down)

NIFA has released a call for proposals for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) for  2014. Do we have any proposals originating from Nebraska? Who is interested in connecting to a proposal team?

The intent of the SCRI program is to solve the needs of the various specialty crop industries.  SCRI program offers the following five project types for both research and extension projects. A letter of intent is due April 11 and full proposals will be due June 20th. A quick summary follows: 

Standard Research and Extension Project

• Project Period – Up to five years
• Budget – Federal funds not less than $250,000 per project.
• Purpose – To support targeted problem-solving efforts that would not otherwise qualify in scope for support as a Coordinated Agriculture project.

Coordinated Agricultural Projects

• Project Period – Three to five years.
• Funding range – Normally, federal funds will not exceed a total of $10,000,000.
• Purpose – To address specific multiple components of a primary system or multiple components of areas where primary systems overlap (see diagram on page 6).

Regional Partnerships for Innovation

• Project Period – Two to three years.
• Budget – Normally, federal funds will not exceed $2,000,000 per project.
• Purpose – To form partnerships that provide the local or regional infrastructure needed to fully exploit future technology commercialization and adoption.

eXtension Projects

• Project Period – Three to five years.
• Budget – Normally, federal funds will not exceed $450,000 per project.
• Purpose – To develop Communities of Practice (COPs) for the eXtension system and to support existing COPs.

   Research and Extension Planning Projects

• Project Period – One year.
• Budget – Federal funds up to $50,000 per project.
• Purpose – To provide assistance to applicants in the development of quality future SREP, RPI, or CAP proposals (grant planning).  Funds may also be requested to provide assistance to consumer, producer, or industry groups for developing strategic research and extension plans—including goals, objectives, priorities, etc. (strategic planning).  The expectation is that developed plans could provide the relevance bases for future SCRI grant applications. 

The SCRI RFA can be found at http://www.nifa.usda.gov/funding/rfas/specialty_crop.html

North Central Region Water Network

by Rick Koelsch, March 26, 2014

(Teams Forming for USDA Water Funding - next article below) 

We are excited to announce the launch of the new North Central Region Water Network – a 12-state collaboration between Extension water resource professionals and other water stakeholders. We are a new organization, but built on decades of USDA-funded regional work in the Great Lakes and Heartland Regions, and North and South Dakota.

With full support from our Extension Directors, we seek to:

• Increase connectivity and learning among university professionals and our partners engaged in water-related research, education, and management
• Strengthen the resource base available for Extension education. Extension provides a critical bridge between applied research and the people, organizations, and communities that can use that research to strengthen decision-making.
• Generate measurable environmental and social impacts in the short and long-term

We hope you will take some time in the near future to get to know us better. Please visit our website, contribute to our blog, and participate in our upcoming webinar series (first event scheduled for April 2nd).  You may also want to join our mailing list for the latest news about our network. Last but not least, be sure to read Extension Director Liaison Rick Klemme’s introduction to the Network and request for your participation.

We look forward to UNL faculty building connections to this network and to participating faculty in the North Central Region. This is an opportunity to build our regional connections on water issues.  If you have interest in water issues, we strongly encourage signing up for the regional network’s email list, participate in the speed networking webinar series,  and monitor the Network’s other activities.  Please note that the April 2^nd speed webinar includes our own Gary Zoubek along with three other presenters and focuses on water supply issues.

Welcome to the North Central Region Water Network!

Teams Forming for USDA Water Funding

by Rick Koelsch, March 26, 2014

USDA NIFA announced its request for proposals (RFA) for the “Water for Agriculture Challenge Area” recently.  UNL faculty eams are forming now to respond to a “Letter of Intent” deadline of April 14.

The RFA (http://www.nifa.usda.gov/funding/rfas/afri.html ) targets development of Integrated proposals that requires involvement of at least two of the three (research, teaching, and extension) functions within the proposal.  No more than two-thirds of the budget can be dedicated to one function.  Although integrated projects are typically research led, extension led projects are encouraged and often successful because of their uniqueness. Projects can be up to $1 million per year for up to 5 years.

The call for proposals focuses on five themes:

• How will climate change affect the quantity and quality of water for agricultural use? How can agriculture adapt to these changes?
• How can the quality of water for agricultural use be sustainably improved?
• How will agricultural water use be sustained and become more water-use efficient, conserving, and less polluting?
• What scientific information is necessary for future public policy?
• How will new knowledge be delivered to agricultural and non-agricultural water users?

These are shortened summaries of the five NIFA challenges.  See the RFA for more detail.

Several discussions have occurred over the last several months and teams are forming to assemble Letters of Intent by April 17.  Here are some early suggestions for who you might contact if you would like to connect with one or more of these teams:

• Suat Irmak: Regional implementation of the Ag Water Management Network (Extension led project).
• Gui Baigorria: Emphasis on crop/climate/water use modeling.
• Jun Wang/Bob Oglesby/Clint Rowe: Impact of climate on water availability for irrigation.
• Derrel Martin/Francisco Munoz-Arriola:  methodologies to predict how land and water use management impact the health of agro-ecosystems and the economic vitality of the watershed.
• Tala Awada and others – understanding implications of public policy and education on crop producer and water use and/or cropping systems/practices.  Focus on social sciences (human behavior, economics, etc.)
• Chittaranjan Ray: Water quality implications.

Beyond Dr. Irmak’s plan, most groups have focused primarily on the research component of their project.  To be successful each of these teams will need to develop a strong Extension or Education plan to be a part of their proposal.  This is an opportunity for Extension faculty to connect with one or more of these teams and to play a key role in planning an Extension water component for a proposal.  But those connections and preliminary plans need to be developed now for an idea to be successful at this letter of intent phase. Don’t delay in making a connection with one of the above teams.