July 2001
SAREP seeks proposals for biologically integrated farming
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. Grant awards ranging from $70,000 to $100,000 per year will be available for up to three years for any one project.
The UC Davis-based Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education Program (SAREP) is administering the Biologically Integrated farming Systems (BIFS) projects. Since 1995, SAREP has provided funding that totals $2,090,741 for BIFS projects in nine crops, with most of the funding coming equally from the California State Legislature and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"New funding from US-EPA now permits us to fund several more large-scale, multi-year projects," said Sean L. Swezey, SAREP director.
At the core of the BIFS projects is a team approach involving farmers, consultants, University of California farm advisors and researchers, and independent pest control advisors. "The BIFS grants program provides extension services, training, and financial incentives for farmers who voluntarily participate in pilot projects to reduce their use of agricultural chemicals," says Jenny Broome, SAREP associate director.
A recently released SAREP report shows California cropping and livestock systems enrolled in the BIFS program demonstrate great potential to reduce dependence on synthetic pesticides and the overuse of fertilizers. For example, the currently funded walnut BIFS project has reduced nitrogen fertilizer application rates by an average of 53 lbs./acre, with no apparent effect on yield. This can help protect groundwater from nitrate pollution. The prune BIFS project has eliminated wintertime sprays of organophosphate insecticides, which have been identified as a significant water quality threat in California rivers.
SAREP BIFS coordinator Marco Barzman says BIFS projects typically include on-farm demonstrations of an innovative biologically-based farming system and a collaborative extension model involving public-private partnerships for sharing technical information about the farming system. They also typically include an organized program of monitoring key biological and economic variables to help with on-farm decision-making and to evaluate project success.
Projects that will be considered for funding may help farmers and livestock producers address challenges to their production systems. "For instance, these projects can be designed to anticipate and comply with federal and state regulatory changes, including the Food Quality Protection Act," Barzman said.
For this round of grants, interested individuals are invited to attend a half-day proposal development workshop in Davis on August 15. BIFS program goals will be explained at the workshop, and participants will learn how to create a "project logical framework." Barzman says attendance at the meeting is strongly recommended, as the framework will be required for all proposals. Formal Request for Proposals were released July 1 and are due October 2, 2001.
Grant applicants must be based in California. Project leaders on BIFS projects may be farmers and other 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. For more information, contact UC SAREP’s main number at (530) 752-7556, Barzman at (530) 752-5987 or email msbarzman@ucdavis.edu, or BIFS associate coordinator Bev Ransom at 530-754-8546 or baransom@ucdavis.edu, or access the RFP on-line at www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/grants/RFP/2001/BIFS.htm.
