USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced nine grants totaling more than $8 million to study and develop new approaches for the agriculture sector to adapt to and mitigate the effects of changing environmental conditions. The funding is made possible through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.

“We have to develop robust plants, animals, and management systems that can flourish under challenging environmental conditions,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “We expect that the outcomes of these investments will support American farmers and producers, and ensure their profitability.”

AFRI is America’s flagship competitive grants program for foundational and translational research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. The Agriculture and Natural Resources Science for Climate Variability and Change Challenge Area aims to provide risk management information and tools to enable land managers to stay viable and productive, and reduce the use of energy, nitrogen, water, and greenhouse gas emissions.

FY16 grants being announced today, by state, include:

Climate Outreach and Extension:

Climate and Land Use:

Project details can be found at the NIFA website.

Among the grants, a New Mexico State University project aims to increase climate change literacy while supporting both adaptation and mitigation activities for different and diverse groups through a comprehensive program. A University of Florida project will identify and test climate adaptation and mitigation in fruit and vegetable supply chains using a holistic, systems approach based on crop, economic, and environmental modeling.

Source: NIFA