Specialty Crop Research Initiative

The purpose of the SCRI program is to address the critical needs of the specialty crop industry by awarding grants to support research and Extension/outreach that address key challenges of national, regional, and multistate importance in sustaining all components of food and agriculture, including conventional and organic food production systems. The program recognizes that for some specialty crops which are grown in a limited number of States, the multistate nature of projects can be difficult to address. Except for Research and Extension/outreach Planning Projects, the SCRI program only considers projects that integrate research and Extension/outreach activities. Applicants are strongly encouraged to propose a unique approach to solving problems facing the specialty crop industry using a systems approach.

Applications may be submitted by Federal agencies, national laboratories, colleges and universities, research institutions and organizations, private organizations or corporations, State agricultural experiment stations, individuals, or groups consisting of two or more of these entities.

SCRI has instituted a two-phase review process. The first phase of the review process is the Industry Relevance Review. Each Pre-Application containing an SRS will be evaluated in a two-part process. First, each SRS will be screened to ensure that it meets the administrative requirements as set forth in this NOFO. Administrative requirements include meeting the application deadline; meeting eligibility requirements; satisfying program intent; inclusion of all required sections of the SRS package; and adherence to guidelines. Second, an SRS that meets these requirements will be evaluated for relevance by a panel of industry reviewers representing closely allied crops. The panel will recommend which applications to invite for submission of a full application. Invited applicants will be sent instructions on how to access the full NOFO via email once the relevance review is completed. NIFA will send copies of reviews, not including the identity of reviewers, and a summary of the panel comments to the PD after the review process has been completed. Specific details about the criteria for selecting proposals is included in the program NOFO. See the NOFO for more information.

Fiscal year 2025: Combining plant genetics and edaphic environment to enhance nitrogen fertilizer management for cranberry production. Fostering Partnerships for Confronting the Dual Threat of Black Dot Disease in Potatoes Across the US Integrated Horticultural and Robotic Solutions for Labor Intensive Orchard Operations. Advancing machine harvest technologies for fresh market blueberries. Systematics, Ecology, Evolution of Pseudomonads infecting chenopods and cucurbits resulting in ACTion Fight Fusarium! Integrated management of Fusarium basal rot to enhance viability of onion and garlic production in the U.S. Making cover cropping a more commonly used tool for integrated weed management (IWM) programs in vegetable production.