The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $72.9 million in grant funding for 56 states and territories, supporting 586 projects through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP). The program, administered by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), funds projects designed to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops through marketing, education, and research.
States will subaward funding to projects addressing the needs of U.S. producers of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops. Projects include initiatives to strengthen food safety capacity across the specialty crop distribution chain, research to develop new and improved seed varieties and crops, pest and disease management, programs to increase child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops, and efforts to improve efficiency and reduce distribution costs.
Since its launch in 2006, the SCBGP has awarded more than $1 billion to 13,030 projects. Funding is authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill.
For more information:
USDA
Tel: +1 (202) 720-2791
Email: [email protected]
www.ams.usda.gov