NIFA: Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative 2025

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI) focuses on collaborative science engagement that intends to develop a community of researchers across both crops and animals that will lay the foundation for expanding knowledge concerning genomes and phenomes of importance to the agriculture sector of the United States.

Donor Name: National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

State: All States

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 03/20/2025

Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million

Grant Duration: 5 Years

Details:

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI), Assistance Listing 10.332, is intended to:

Study agriculturally significant crops and animals in production environments to achieve sustainable and secure agricultural production.
Ensure that current gaps in existing knowledge of agricultural crop and animal genetics and phenomics are filled.
Identify and develop a functional understanding of relevant genes from animals and agronomically relevant genes from crops that are of importance to the agriculture sector of the United States.
Ensure future genetic improvement of crops and animals of importance to the agriculture sector of the United States.
Study the relevance of diverse germplasm as a source of unique genes that may be of importance in the future.
Enhance genetics to reduce the economic impact of pathogens on crops and animals of importance to the agriculture sector of the United States.
Disseminate findings to relevant audiences.

The priorities of this program are to:

Promote effective collaborations across academic disciplines by integrating diverse perspectives and expertise through team science and communication.
Develop models connecting traits such as yield, feed conversion efficiency, production efficiency and nutritional quality with environmental variability, genetics, and climate.
Employ common data architectures across crop and animal systems consistent with FAIR data principles.
Engineer novel hardware, computing, and information systems to improve and democratize acquisition, interpretation, and analysis of large datasets of high periodicity imagery, spectra, phenotypes, genotypes, and accompanying metadata.
Study the potential relevance of diverse germplasm as a source of unique genes that may be of importance in the future genetic improvement of crops and animals of importance to the agriculture sector of the United States.
Improve the quality and availability of crop and animal genetic resources that may reduce the economic impacts of climate change on the agriculture sector of the United States.

All applications are encouraged to address at least two of the six goals listed below through a research-focused approach.

Develop new or augment existing benchmark datasets comprised of genetic, phenotypic, environmental, climatic, and physiological data on crops or livestock, poultry, and aquaculture of importance to U.S. agriculture for the purpose of testing, training, and comparing predictive analytic tools by the data science community with potential wide application in agricultural fields.
Combine plant and/or animal genomic information with phenotypic and environmental data through an interdisciplinary framework, leading to a novel understanding of plant and/or animal processes that affect growth, productivity, and the ability to predict performance, which will result in the deployment of superior varieties or individuals to producers and improved management recommendations for farmers and ranchers.
Development of high-throughput methods for on-farm recording of traits for improving selection criteria in plants and/or animals. This may include Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Phenomics methodology.
Improve national agricultural data infrastructure to facilitate storage and programmatic access to very large datasets and to allow for improved data description, harmonization, and system interoperability.
Incorporate workforce development through support and training at the undergraduate, graduate, or postgraduate level with a sound mentorship plan that incorporates creative, meaningful contributions by project participants to research design, interpretation, and scientific inquiry. Workforce development efforts that include partnership with private for-profit entities are welcome.
Organize interdisciplinary agricultural genome to phenome, in-person or virtual working groups, conferences, programs, or colloquia that engage groups with diverse scientific expertise around high-priority, stakeholder-driven issues that would benefit from a coordinated research approach.

Funding Information