NIFA programs propel innovation from research laboratories to farms, classrooms, and communities.
NIFA-supported programs ensure the long-term viability of agriculture while advancing production agriculture, food and nutrition security, and agriculture’s workforce needs.
Using a variety of funding mechanisms, we partner with the Land-grant University System and collaborate with leading scientists, policymakers, experts, and educators to find novel solutions to the most pressing problems facing agriculture and communities.
Funding Mechanisms
- Competitive grants fund fundamental and applied research, Extension, and higher education activities, as well as integrated projects.
- Capacity grants support research and Extension activities at Land-grant institutions, schools of forestry, and schools of veterinary medicine.
- Non-competitive grants are directed by Congress to support designated institutions for research, education, or Extension on topics of importance to a State or region.
NIFA's Grants Process
NIFA’s grants process is the engine that drives our programs from application to successful project conclusion.
Learn MorePeer Review
Peer review is a crucial element of our grantmaking process. NIFA assembles diverse, balanced panels of experienced reviewers who possess the appropriate expertise to review and score applications before panel meetings. Peer reviewers participate in panel discussions to reach a group consensus on application rankings as well as submitting written summaries of the discussion.
- Panelists are integral to the peer review process, and they are selected based on their expertise and credentials, as well as NIFA panel needs.
- NIFA reviews all applications accepted into competitive programs through the peer review process.
NIFA programs enable the scientific community to make discoveries that improve the food and agricultural sectors, the environment, and the quality of people’s lives. NIFA’s programs rely upon a three-pronged strategy that integrates research, education, and Extension to ensure that groundbreaking scientific discoveries are brought out of the laboratory and into the hands of those who can put them to work.
How We Work
Partnerships play a fundamental role in carrying out this integrated approach. NIFA provides program leadership and funding, enabling our partners to discover and apply innovative solutions to critical issues related to agriculture, food, the environment, and communities.
Collaboration with the Nation’s Land-grant Colleges and Universities ensures the benefits of NIFA’s resources extend to all Americans.
NIFA grants for fundamental and applied research to enable discovery of solutions to complex problems of regional, national, and global importance.
To feed the growing global population - expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 - the Food and Agricultural Organization projects that agricultural production (food, feed and fiber) will need to increase by 70 percent.
Extension provides non-formal education and learning activities to people throughout the country — to farmers and other residents of rural communities as well as to people living in urban areas. It emphasizes taking knowledge gained through research and education and bringing it directly to the...