The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) requests applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2023 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP).
Donor Name: North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (NCDA&CS)
State: North Carolina
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/03/2023
Size of the Grant: $200,000
Grant Duration: 2 year 6 months
Details:
The SCBGP assists State departments of agriculture within any of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in enhancing the competitiveness of U.S. specialty crops. Specialty crops are defined as “fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture). A State department of agriculture is the agency, commission, or department of a State government responsible for agriculture within the State.
Project Types
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) administers the SCBGP. USDA encourages projects pertaining to the following issues affecting the specialty crop industry:
- enhancing food safety;
- improving the capacity of all entities in the specialty crop distribution chain to comply with the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act, for example, by developing “Good Agricultural Practices,” “Good Handling Practices,” “Good Manufacturing Practices,” and in cost-share arrangements for funding audits of such systems for small farmers, packers and processors;
- investing in specialty crop research, including research to focus on conservation and environmental outcomes;
- developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops;
- pest and disease control;
- Increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops;
- Improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems; and
- Sustainability
USDA promotes climate-resilient landscapes and rural economic systems, including tools to support agriculture, forests, grazing lands, and rural communities. AMS encourages applicants to consider including goals and activities related to reducing and stabilizing the levels of heat trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere or adapting to the already occurring climate change in their project’s design and implementation.
Funding Information
- The maximum grant request amount for 2023 will be no more than $200,000.
- NC SCBGP grant funds will be awarded for projects of up to two (2) years and six (6) months duration. Projects will not be extended past June 30, 2026.
Eligible Applicants
State and/or local governmental units, academia (Universities and Colleges), and non-profit organizations, including producer associations, community-based organizations and other specialty crop stakeholders are eligible to apply.
For more information, visit NCDA&CS.
