The AFRI Water for Food Production Systems Challenge Area focuses on multidisciplinary systems approaches, which integrate new technologies and strategic management that solve water availability and quality challenges in food production systems.
Funding will be used for projects that employ systems approaches to resolve the complex challenges of greater agricultural production while reducing water use through: advanced sensor and irrigation technologies adoption; improved plant and animal use efficiencies through classical/conventional and accelerated breeding approaches; exploitation of nontraditional water sources (treated wastewater, produced water, brackish groundwater, and captured runoff); biotechnology; nanotechnology; and other technologies.
Projects are expected to integrate efficient economic, environmental, behavioral, social, and policy approaches that support changes across geographic, size, and socioeconomic scales to positively affect sustainable water use for food production, processing, and other competing uses.
The long-term goal of the AFRI Water for Food Production Systems Challenge Area is to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and availability of safe and nutritious food while significantly reducing water use and preserving water quality.
