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The Forests and Related Resources topic area aims to address the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests to meet the needs of present and future generations through the development of environmentally sound approaches to increase productivity of forest lands, improve sustainability and develop value-added materials derived from forest resources.

The objective of this topic area is to examine novel ways of enhancing crop production and protection by: applying biological approaches to develop new methods for plant improvement, applying traditional plant breeding methods and new technologies to develop new food and non- food crop plants, developing plant characteristics that reduce the harmful impact of plant pests and biotic stresses, and d ...

The Animal Production and Protection topic area aims to develop innovative, marketable technologies that will provide significant benefit to the production and protection of agricultural animals.

The Conservation of Natural Resources topic area aims to develop innovative technologies that are developed with the purpose to conserve, monitor, improve and/or protect the quality and/or quantity of natural resources while sustaining optimal farm and forest productivity and profitability. We encourage new technologies and innovations that will help improve soil health, reduce soil erosion, impro ...

The Food Science and Nutrition topic area aims to fund projects that support research focusing on developing new and improved processes, technologies, or services that address emerging food safety, food processing, and nutrition issues.

The Rural Development topic area aims to fund the development of new technologies, or for the utilization of existing technologies, that address important economic and social development issues or challenges in rural America. The applications need not be centered on agriculture but may be focused on any area that has the potential to provide significant benefit to rural Americans.

The Aquaculture topic area aims to develop new technologies that will enhance the knowledge and technology base necessary for the expansion of the domestic aquaculture industry as a form of production agriculture.

The objective of this topic area is to promote the use of biofuels and non-food biobased products by developing new or improved technologies that will lead to increased production of biofuels, industrial chemicals, and other value-added products from agricultural materials.

The Small and Mid-Size Farms topic area aims to promote and improve the sustainability and profitability of small and mid-size farms and ranches (where annual sales of agricultural products are less than $350,000 for small farms and between $350,000 and $999,999 for mid-size farms – hereafter referred to as small farms).

The objective of this topic area is to enhance crop production by creating and commercializing engineering technologies that enhance system efficiency and profitability and protect crops from pests and pathogens in economically and environmentally sound ways.