Urban, Indoor, and other Emerging Agricultural Production Research, Education, and Extension Initiative | USDA NIFA OP 011777

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA OP 011777

The Urban, Indoor, and other Emerging Agricultural Production Research, Education, and Extension Initiative (UIE, ALN/CFDA 10.333) is a competitive grant program run by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) that funds projects aimed at solving practical production and market challenges facing modern, place-based agriculture. The program is designed to support a mix of research, education, and extension activities, meaning proposals can generate new knowledge, train and educate growers or the workforce, and deliver hands-on technical assistance and outreach that helps communities and producers adopt workable solutions. A key feature of the UIE program is that it is not limited to farming practices alone; it explicitly covers the full food value chain, including production, harvesting, transportation, aggregation, packaging, distribution, and market development, so projects can tackle bottlenecks that occur after food is grown as well as those on the farm.

For FY 2026, applications must align with a specific priority focus: identifying and promoting the horticultural, social, and economic factors that lead to successful agricultural production in high-population-density settings, indoor and controlled-environment agriculture systems, and other emerging production approaches. In practice, that means the program is looking for proposals that can explain what actually drives success in urban agriculture and similar contexts, not just from a crop science or technology perspective, but also from the standpoint of people, organizations, business models, and local market realities. Strong proposals are likely to connect horticultural performance (such as yields, crop quality, pest and disease management, resource efficiency, or system design) with real-world constraints and opportunities like workforce training, community acceptance, food access goals, profitability, supply chain logistics, and pathways to stable markets.

The topics and needs behind the funding priorities were informed by public and stakeholder input collected through a Federal Register Notice (2020-08402), stakeholder listening sessions, and consultations with the Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture. That input was used to pinpoint urgent challenges across the stages of the food value chain, which is meant to keep funded work grounded in practical problems that urban and emerging producers, communities, and local food systems are dealing with right now.

There are also clear partnership expectations. Every applicant must include local community organizations as part of the project team, which signals that NIFA wants proposals built with community involvement and local relevance rather than projects that are designed in isolation. In addition, priority is given to proposals that demonstrate cooperation among multiple eligible applicants, encouraging multi-institution collaborations that combine complementary skills, facilities, and on-the-ground networks (for example, pairing university research capacity with extension delivery and community-based implementation partners).

Eligibility is broad but defined. Applications may be submitted by state agricultural experiment stations; colleges and universities; university research foundations; other research institutions and organizations; federal agencies; national laboratories; private organizations, foundations, or corporations; individuals; or any group made up of two or more of those eligible entity types. The opportunity is offered as a grant (Funding Instrument Type: Grant) and is categorized under agriculture-related funding activity.

Key administrative details include the funding opportunity title and number (USDA NIFA OP 011777), the sponsoring agency (USDA NIFA), and the closing date of July 27, 2026. The award ceiling is $500,000 per award, and NIFA expects to make approximately 8 awards under this competition. Overall, UIE is essentially a targeted investment in solutions that help urban, indoor, and emerging agriculture systems become more productive, more economically viable, and more socially grounded, with clear expectations for community involvement and collaborative project design across the food value chain.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Urban, Indoor, and other Emerging Agricultural Production Research, Education, and Extension Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.333.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2026-06-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-07-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA OP 011777

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