AFRI – FAS Engineering for Agricultural Production and Processing (A1521)

Program Area Priority: This program area priority focuses on engineered devices, technologies, and tools to improve agriculturally relevant plant, animal, and forestry systems. This excludes precision crop and water management systems, which are now included in a new program (A1551). See “additional information,” part (g.) below. Applications must have a significant engineering component. Engineering is defined as the application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the design, manufacture, and operation of efficient and sustainable structures, technologies, machines, processes, and systems. Some broad emphasis areas include, but are not limited to:

a. Enable engineering, sensing, computing, modeling, automation, and information systems for: forestry, plant and animal production and protection (including aquaculture); and post-harvest inspection, handling, processing, packaging, and distribution.

b. Develop systems or technology for sensing, automation and mechanization of laborintensive tasks in crop and animal production (including aquaculture).

c. Technologies for nutrient recovery from manure. d. Topics of water or nutrient management are not covered by program A1551.

e. Explore the use or development of advanced computational or engineering methods and technologies for navigation, mining, management, visualization, understanding, and communication of agricultural systems data in production and processing systems.

f. Develop and test risk assessment and mitigation measures applicable to agriculture (in particular, reduce hazards to agricultural workers that can include assistive technologies).

g. Within potential topics presented herein, methods of breaking down technological barriers to adoption in integrated projects are welcomed.