February 1998
Grants available to farmers, researchers for biological farming systems
DAVIS--Farmers, commodity groups and others are encouraged to apply for a new round of grants to demonstrate improved soil fertility and crop protection practices that reduce reliance on agricultural chemicals. Awards ranging from $80,000 to $100,000 per year will be available for two or more projects.
The UC Davis-based Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education Program (SAREP) is administering the Biologically Integrated farming Systems (BIFS) projects, the result of 1994 state legislation. The first BIFS grants support on-going projects in winegrapes and field crops which are funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) and the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Pesticide Regulation.
"New funding from US-EPA and the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources now permits us to fund several large-scale, multi-year projects," says Bill Liebhardt, SAREP director and researcher.
Jenny Broome, SAREP BIFS coordinator notes that at the core of BIFS projects is a team approach to information sharing involving farmers, consultants, University of California farm advisors and researchers, and independent pest-control advisors.
"New regulations by the US-EPA have made this program vitally important for California agriculture to create and demonstrate alternative farming systems like BIFS," says Broome. "An increasing number of California farmers representing many commodities and counties have been able to maintain yields and quality while greatly reducing their reliance on agricultural chemicals, including pesticides and synthetic fertilizers," says Broome.
Broome says the elements these farmers integrate into their production systems include biological and cultural control of pests; on-farm and regional vegetation management to reduce pest problems; a strong emphasis on soil-building practices, often including biological nitrogen fixation to supply all or part of the nitrogen needed by crop plants; and reduced reliance on agricultural chemicals.
Broome notes that projects which will be considered for funding may employ additional tools, such as field monitoring for pest and beneficial organisms, collection of weather data, reliance on research-based action thresholds for decision-making, use of selective biorational pesticides, and soil, water and plant-tissue testing. "Under this kind of management, agricultural chemical programs are crafted so as to interfere minimally with the integration of all these elements," she says.
"For this round of grants we are inviting interested individuals to submit a two-page pre-proposal," says Broome, so principal investigators may obtain feedback on their potential project to enable them to develop full proposals that will most effectively fulfill the program’s criteria.
The formal Request for Proposals were mailed at the beginning of February 1998. Pre-proposals are due March 16, 1998 and full proposals must be received by UC SAREP no later than May 15, 1998.
California institutions and individuals are invited to apply for funding. Principal investigators on BIFS projects may be private individuals, for-profit and non-profit corporations including commodity boards, Resource Conservation Districts, Natural Resources Conservation Service District or soil conservationists, University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisors, Cooperative Extension specialists, Area IPM Advisors, and faculty of any accredited California institution of higher learning.
Media Contacts:
Lyra Halprin, (530) 752-8664, lhalprin@ucdavis.edu
