Special Research Grants Program, Potato Breeding Research | USDA NIFA SRGP 006204

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA SRGP 006204

The Special Research Grants Program, Potato Breeding Research (USDA NIFA SRGP 006204) is a discretionary grant opportunity run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under CFDA 10.200. Its central aim is to fund research programs focused on improving potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) varieties that are suitable for commercial production. In practice, the program is designed to push forward the pipeline that takes a potato from an idea in a breeding program to a tested candidate with real-world potential for growers, processors, and other end users.

The work this program wants to support is "varietal development and testing," meaning research efforts that actively create and improve potato varieties and then evaluate them in ways that directly support breeding decisions. The solicitation makes clear that this includes conventional breeding approaches as well as biotechnology and genetic techniques used to develop improved potatoes. Just as important, it emphasizes that evaluation, screening, and testing activities are not meant to stand alone; they need to be tied to the broader goal of developing better varieties. That typically implies research that connects traits and performance measures (like yield, quality, disease resistance, stress tolerance, storage characteristics, or processing attributes) back to selection and advancement of breeding lines, rather than purely descriptive studies that do not feed into variety development.

Eligibility is limited to specific types of institutions. Applications may be submitted only by state agricultural experiment stations; land-grant colleges and universities; research foundations established by land-grant colleges and universities; colleges and universities receiving funds under the Act of October 10, 1962, as amended (16 U.S.C. 582a et seq.); and accredited schools or colleges of veterinary medicine. Even if a project team includes partners outside these categories, the lead applicant must be eligible under the program rules. The announcement also notes that award recipients are allowed to subcontract to organizations that are not eligible to apply directly, as long as those organizations are needed to carry out the project. This structure supports collaborations with industry partners, specialized labs, or other entities, while keeping the primary award relationship with an eligible institution.

The opportunity includes a strong warning on eligibility timing and compliance: if an applicant does not meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline, the application may be excluded from consideration. Even in cases where an ineligible application is reviewed, NIFA would still be prevented from making an award. In other words, eligibility is a gatekeeping requirement, not a minor administrative detail, and applicants need to have their institutional status and any required documentation sorted out before submission.

Administratively, the grant was posted with an original closing date of March 28, 2017, and a creation date of January 18, 2017. The funding instrument is a grant, and the activity area is agriculture. The provided source data does not list an award ceiling or expected number of awards, so those specifics would normally need to be confirmed through the full funding announcement or related program materials for that year.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Special Research Grants Program, Potato Breeding Research" 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 2017-01-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-03-28. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA SRGP 006204

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