NIFA Update--Jan. 8, 2025

As a new year begins, I want to take a moment to reflect on all the wonderful accomplishments NIFA and our partners and stakeholders achieved in 2024. Innovation and collaboration have been instrumental in advancing our shared mission and making a difference in all of the communities we serve. Here are just a few highlights from this past year.

In fiscal year 2024, NIFA awarded almost 2,200 grants, totaling $2 billion. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is the largest and best-known agriculture and food competitive research program. AFRI grants awarded this year support research to increase food production, ensure food safety and security, improve rural economies, stimulate the bioeconomy and train the next generation agricultural workforce. 

We celebrated with the First Americans Land-grant Consortium as we marked the 30th anniversary of Tribal colleges as a part of the U.S. Land-grant University System.

The NextGen program is enabling universities, from New York to the Northern Mariana Islands, from Alaska to Puerto Rico, to build and sustain the next generation of food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences workforce. Over the last 12 months, NextGen engaged more than 5,000 students in agricultural awareness activities.

We announced this fall that the USDA Food Loss and Waste liaison and program has moved to NIFA and is now part of the Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition. This multi-agency effort is a great addition to our food and nutrition portfolio as we work across federal government and the nation to tackle food insecurity.

The new partnership with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, NIFA and the Cooperative Extension System brings new funding and Extension educator positions to urban centers to focus on conservation programs. This is a multi-phase program that is just getting underway, and we look forward to watching it grow and improve our service in cities.

We recently posted the accomplishments report from NIFA’s Climate Change Priority Team to the NIFA website. Our team has done a stellar job – and has been commended across Federal government – for their forward-thinking action plan.

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), the nation’s first nutrition education program for low-income populations, remains at the forefront of nutrition education efforts to reduce nutrition insecurity of low-income families. The most recent EFNEP annual report, released earlier this year, shows that 96% of adults participating in our programs improved what they eat, consuming more fruits and vegetables.  Another nutrition education program, the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program, is increasing the purchase of fruits and vegetables by low-income consumers, and, in turn, improving the health and nutrition of participating households. For the first time since its establishment in 2019, the program funded projects serving U.S. territories.

We are moving to the next phase of the Grants Modernization Initiative. A new grants platform has been sorely needed for some time, and we are making great progress toward bringing that new system to our partners very soon.

In FY24, we hosted 105 stakeholder-focused webinars, in addition to more than 35 in-person visits to our LGU partners, giving us the opportunity to listen to their feedback on what we are doing well and where we can improve.

I encourage each of you to reflect on our joint achievements and set your sights on the possibilities of this new year. Together, we’ve built a foundation for success, and I’m excited to see what we’ll achieve in the year ahead.

Dr. Manjit Misra, NIFA Director

NIFA Funds Three New Nutrition Hubs

USDA announced recently a $4.5 million investment to create three additional USDA Nutrition Hubs. The hubs will support effective, translatable and scalable approaches to advance food and nutrition security and reduce the burden of diet-related chronic diseases, especially in underserved, at-risk communities.

Funded by NIFA, the Nutrition Hubs will be located at three Land-grant Universities: University of Hawaii, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Utah State University.

The addition of these three Hubs creates a network that builds on the pilot Nutrition Hub established last year in partnership with Southern University and A&M College and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. 

Read more about the new hubs and the work being done.

Children eating fruit. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Save the Date for 2025 NERAOC

The 2025 National Extension and Research Administrative Officers Conference (NERAOC) will be March 31-April 3 in Reno, Nevada. NIFA staff will partner with Land-grant Colleges and Universities to share and exchange current best practices, discuss policy, obtain definitive interpretation of regulations and discuss future issues. Registration will open in January 2025.

University of California Davis Research Reveals High NOx Emissions from Soils in Rural Imperial and Coachella Valleys

At least one-quarter of all nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions in California's Salton Sea air basin come from soil, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. 

Using isotopic analysis, the study found annual total soil emissions for the basin averaged 11 tons per day, which is 10 times larger than the state’s current inventory for soil NO_x emissions in the region. The work was published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

The study highlights the need to better understand and account for emissions from agricultural soils in order to comply with state and federal air quality regulations and to improve air quality in rural Imperial Valley, Coachella Valley and other agriculturally active regions in warm climates. Read more about this NIFA supported research.

Green palm tree plantation near Salton Sea. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.