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The Ecosystem Services Market Research Consortium is conducting the research necessary to create a functional ecosystem services market, which pays farmers and ranchers for adopting conservation practices.
The IIC accelerates the development and adoption of novel water and energy-efficient irrigation technologies and practices through public-private partnerships.
Crops of the Future, a public-private collaborative, expands our knowledge of the traits that give rise to characteristics crops need to adapt to a changing future.
The International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture (ICASA) advances research on antimicrobial stewardship in animal agriculture. This public-private partnership promotes the judicious use of antibiotics and improves animal welfare.
Precision Indoor Plants (PIP), a public-private partnership, helps food producers grow flavorful, nutritious food indoors. The consortium’s audacious research increases our ability to produce quality crops that are valuable and desired by consumers.
The Consortium for Innovation in Post-Harvest Loss & Food Waste Reduction is a team of global experts that aim to preserve nutrients, improve livelihoods and realize an efficient food system.
The Greener Cattle Initiative is an industry-oriented research consortium that will award approximately $5 million over the next five years to support research to mitigate enteric methane emissions from cattle. This audacious consortium provides global nutrition while also curbing the escalating climate crisis.
The Hemp Research Consortium fosters a deeper understanding of the relationship between genes, physiology and the environment to optimize industrial hemp production.
The Efficient Fertilizer Consortium is a public-private partnership that funds research to advance enhanced efficiency and novel fertilizer products and practices that are environmentally beneficial and agronomically productive.
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About

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellows Program

Contact

Dr. LaKisha Odom
lodom@foundationfar.org

Development Contact

Catherine Maxwell
cmaxwell@foundationfar.org

Applications are under review

Long arm of tractor sprays fertilizer on. Rows of young corn.

Open Opportunity

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship Program

Applications are under review

View all opportunities

Generating Soil Health Solutions

About the FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellows Program

The FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellows Program, also called the FFAR-OCP Fellowship, aims to spur and foster disruptive innovation in the next generation of fertilizer research and development through a research challenge, whereby emerging young scientists in agriculture research can enhance their efforts in fertilizer efficiency research and technology development. The technologies and research generated through this project will address the need for increasing plant uptake of essential macronutrients and limit the loss of inputs – which contribute largely to water and marine ecosystem damage – while boosting productivity.

The current application cycle opens noon, June 14, 2023 and closes 5 p.m. ET, August 9, 2023.

There was an informational webinar June 28, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET. Watch the webinar recording.

Learn more about the open request for applications.

Awardees will receive a maximum of $75,000 that covers 12-24 months of funding to conduct projects in fertilizer efficiency research and technology development that have already demonstrated promise in a first phase of research.

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship Program Cohort

Year: 2022

Dr. Utsav Shashvatt

University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Utsav Shashvatt, a postdoctoral researcher in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), was awarded $74,997 through the FFAR-OCP Fellowship, which was matched by an additional $16,109 from UC Berkeley, for a total award of $91,106 to recover nutrients in human waste to form two types of high value fertilizers, controlled release and liquid, to offset the use of conventional fertilizers. The increased use of waste-derived fertilizers will help reduce dependence on conventional fertilizers, which are generated using non-renewable resources.

Dr. Kanwardeep S. Rawale

Biotech Naturale

Dr. Kanwardeep S. Rawale of Biotech Naturale was awarded $75,000 to improve the biofertilizer use efficiency of wheat by identifying and transferring genes from wild wheat using their novel method of targeted alien gene transfer. Biofertilizers are preparations containing living microorganisms that promote growth by improving nutrient acquisition when applied to plants. Modern wheat cultivars are bred to be responsive to synthetic nitrogen application, while their wild relatives are a repository of biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, including value-added traits, such as improved biofertilizer use efficiency. This project has significant potential to transform biofertilizers into efficient chemical fertilizer alternatives for producers.

Dr. Maarten Everaert

KU Leuven

Dr. Maarten Everaert, assistant professor, KU Leuven Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, was awarded $75,000 to assist sub-Saharan African small-scale farmers increase their limited access to phosphorus fertilizers through an innovative approach of phosphorus recycling using locally available resources. By improving their phosphorus-depleted soils, this project will help these farmers to safeguard their agricultural productivity to meet local food demands, while also supporting limited use of external inputs, soil regeneration, wastewater treatment and minimal environmental impact.