Dear Colleagues,

USDA NIFA requests pre-applications for the Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program (ECDRE) program for fiscal year 2020 to address priorities identified by the Citrus Disease Sub-committee (CDS) of the National Agricultural Research, Education, Extension and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board through projects that integrate research and extension activities and use systems-based, trans-disciplinary approaches to provide solutions to U.S. citrus growers.
 
The overarching goals and desired outcomes for the ECDRE program are: 

• To combat Huanglongbing (HLB) and its disease complex in order to continue to be able to farm citrus in a financially sustainable way through collaborative approaches and knowledge;
• Transition from component-focused research to deploying research outcomes and conclusions on farms; and
• Encourage research teams to bring knowledge together to find grower solutions to combat and prevent HLB infection.

The ECDRE program will address these needs through the promotion of collaboration, open communication, the exchange of information, and the development of resources that accelerate application of scientific discovery and technology to farm-level solutions for HLB. The anticipated amount available for support of this program in FY 2020 is approximately $45.2 million.

The three project types for FY 2020 are as follows:

• Standard projects will support targeted problem-solving efforts that are narrower in scope than a Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP). These projects will be aimed at: i. farm-level implementation or commercialization of proven solutions, or ii. examination of innovative ideas that will address one of the goals identified by the Citrus Disease Subcommittee. Projects will be limited to two-years and $1,500,000 for the duration of the project. 
• CAPs will be awarded to consortia or groups of qualified applicants to coordinate their research and extension in addressing national-scale efforts: Consolidation of screening efforts for intervention targets and reduction of candidate lists to include only those most worthy of advanced testing and commercialization; A cure for infected trees and strategies for maintaining their productivity; Regional management or eradication of ACP on commercial citrus groves and residential plantings; Optimized detection and surveillance programs for ACP and/or HLB; Development of commercial citrus varieties (rootstocks and scions) with genetic resistance to HLB using traditional breeding techniques and/or gene editing. Projects will be limited to five-years and $15,000,000 for the duration of the project. 
• Coordination Network projects will facilitate greater sharing of HLB research results nationally, develop and support resources for data collection and management, develop tools for evaluation of progress and assess the effectiveness of research and extension efforts, and help identify priority research and extension needs. It is expected that the coordination network will work closely with NIFA and the Citrus Disease Subcommittee to ensure that its analyses inform decision making and increase the effectiveness of the ECDRE program. Projects will be limited to five-years and $1,000,000 for the duration of the project.

Pre-applications are due May 4th.  A review panel will decide which pre-applications to invite for submission of a full application. Invited applicants will be sent instructions on how to access the full RFA via email.

Please review the full application details within the RFA at the following link:  https://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/rfa/FY2020-RFPA-Emergency-Citrus-Preapplication.pdf

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)