Description
The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) is a grant program that assists State departments of agriculture in the 50 States, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. The program provides funding to support projects that leverage efforts to market and promote specialty crops, assist producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops, expand availability and access to specialty crops, and address local, regional, and national challenges confronting specialty crop producers. Some examples of eligible projects include enhancing food safety, investing in specialty crop research, developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops, and improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems. The program encourages State departments of agriculture to conduct outreach to identify funding priorities and to develop their State Plans through a competitive review process.
• Examples of eligible projects include:
• Enhancing food safety
• Investing in specialty crop research
• Developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops
• Improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems
• Increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops
• Sustainability
The program expects that State departments of agriculture will consult with specialty crop growers, processors, and/or distributors before developing SCBGP project applications to ensure maximum public input and benefit.