The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Office of Pesticide Consultation and Analysis (OPCA) is pleased to announce grant funding available for the Biologically Integrated Farming Systems Program (BIFS).
Donor Name: California Department of Food and Agriculture
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $1 million
Grant Duration: 4 years
Details:
The purpose of this RFP is to develop projects to demonstrate and refine outreach of innovative, biologically integrated farming systems that reduce chemical pesticide inputs.
The focus of this RFP is on chemical pesticide reduction in crop-based farming systems. The objective of this program is to demonstrate and refine SPM-based farming projects designed to reduce chemical pesticide inputs, especially non-selective, biologically disruptive insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and fumigants that pose greater risk to human health or the environment. Applicants should discuss the risks of the pesticide(s) they are aiming to reduce. All aspects of the farming system may be considered as they relate to pest management, including factors such as adjacent landscapes, whether they are farmed or not.
Projects will typically include all the following elements:
- On-farm demonstration/evaluation of an innovative, biologically based farming system, that employs SPM strategies;
- A collaborative outreach effort for sharing technical information about the farming system with growers, PCAs, commodity groups, and others engaged in pest management, and;
- An organized program for monitoring key biological and economic variables to inform on-farm decision making and evaluate project success.
Funding Information
Total funding available is $1 million, and the maximum project budget is $1 million. CDFA expects to fund one to two projects. Projects are anticipated to begin February 2024 and last for approximately 4 years.
Eligibility Criteria
- Public or private colleges and universities, local, State, and federal government entities including tribal governments, non-profit organizations, and commodity groups are eligible to apply.
- The project lead(s) and their institutions must be based in California; out-of-state collaborators are allowed.
- California state agencies may not submit proposal applications but may be listed as subcontractors on other proposals. A state agency’s share of funding may not exceed 30% of total funding. State agencies may not take the lead in project management.
Disqualifications
The following will result in the disqualification of a grant proposal:
- Incomplete grant proposals, including grant proposals with one or more unanswered questions and/or missing, blank, unreadable, corrupt, or otherwise unusable attachments
- Applicant is not an eligible entity
- Grant proposals requesting more than the maximum or less than the minimum award amount
- Grant proposals with unallowable costs or activities necessary to complete the project objectives.
- Grants with only out-of-state project leads
For more information, visit BIFS.
