The US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has kick started the grant application call for its Potato Breeding Research program.

Eligible candidates include 1862 Land-Grand institutions, 1890 Land-Grand Institutions and 1994 Land-Grant Institutions. Additionally, the grant is open to state agricultural experiment stations, land-grant colleges and universities, as well as research foundations established by land-grant colleges/universities, and others. The deadline to apply is set for May 21. The total estimated amount available is of USD2,250m with grants ranging from USD130,000 to USD900,000.

The purpose of the grant program is to support potato research program that focus on varietal development and testing and potato varieties for commercial production. Varietal development and testing represent research using conventional breeding and/or biotechnological genetics to develop improved potato varieties.