Establishment of the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI)

Posted by cliff on September 3, 2008

ESA News and Views readers may be interested in the following announcement from the USDA (see http://www.csrees.usda.gov/business/reporting/stakeholder/an_stakeholder_afri.html for details.)

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is creating a new research, education, and extension program called the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). CSREES is designated to act on behalf of the Secretary of Agriculture in soliciting public comment from interested persons regarding the implementing regulation to be developed for this new program as required under section 7406 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. As part of this process, CSREES is conducting a public meeting on Wednesday, September 10, 2008, at the Waterfront Centre in Washington, DC, to solicit comments regarding the implementing regulations to be developed for this program.

CSREES plans to consider stakeholder input received from this public meeting as well as other written comments in developing an implementing regulation for this program. CSREES anticipates releasing a formal announcement of the AFRI program in late November 2008, followed by a Request for Applications (RFA) by mid-January 2009. Applications will be submitted using the electronic submission package available at Grants.gov.

Written comments may be submitted until Wednesday, September 24, 2008.

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