Special Research Grants for Aquaculture Research Program | USDA NIFA SRGP 010575

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA SRGP 010575

The Special Research Grants for Aquaculture Research Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) designed to push U.S. aquaculture toward greater environmental responsibility and stronger economic performance. The program is built around generating practical, science-based information and innovations that solve real-world bottlenecks holding the industry back. In the long run, USDA expects funded projects to contribute to a more profitable domestic aquaculture sector, help reduce the U.S. seafood trade deficit, strengthen food security by increasing reliable domestic production, and expand downstream economic benefits such as new markets for U.S.-grown grain used in feeds. The program also emphasizes broader community impacts, including stimulating private investment in aquaculture businesses and supporting job creation in rural and coastal regions where aquaculture operations and supply chains often concentrate.

Projects funded under this program must directly address major constraints facing the U.S. aquaculture industry and align with one or more stated priority areas. The first priority is genetics of commercial aquaculture species, which can include work that improves traits like growth rate, feed efficiency, robustness, product quality, and adaptability to culture conditions, so long as the research is relevant to commercially important species and industry needs. The second priority targets critical disease issues affecting aquaculture species, reflecting how disease outbreaks can rapidly undermine production, animal welfare, and farm viability; this area can encompass prevention, detection, epidemiology, management strategies, and other approaches that reduce disease-related losses. The third priority focuses on the design of environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture production systems, meaning research aimed at improving production technology, system engineering, water and waste management, energy efficiency, and other operational factors that influence both environmental outcomes and farm-level costs. The fourth priority is economic research that increases aquaculture profitability, which can include studies on cost structures, market dynamics, risk management, adoption barriers, and business models that help producers and the broader industry make better decisions and improve financial performance.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, this opportunity is listed as USDA NIFA SRGP 010575 under CFDA number 10.200, with grants as the funding instrument and agriculture as the funding activity category. The stated award ceiling is $300,000, and USDA anticipated making about 6 awards under this announcement. The original closing date for applications was April 15, 2024, and the opportunity record lists a creation date of February 15, 2024, which helps frame the timeline for when the solicitation was published and when proposals were due.

Eligibility is broad but clearly bounded to U.S.-based participation. Eligible applicants include State Agricultural Experiment Stations; colleges and universities (including junior colleges that offer associate degrees or higher); university research foundations; other research institutions and organizations; federal agencies; national laboratories; private organizations or corporations; and individual applicants who are U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents. The program also allows applications from groups or partnerships made up of two or more eligible entity types from those categories, supporting collaborative, multi-institution projects when that structure is best suited to the research. At the same time, foreign and international organizations are explicitly not eligible, reinforcing the program focus on strengthening domestic capacity and outcomes for the U.S. aquaculture sector.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Special Research Grants for Aquaculture Research Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.200.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-02-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-04-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA SRGP 010575

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