The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recently announced the availability of more than $160 million in funding for research, education and extension projects that address key challenges affecting U.S. agriculture production, according to a USDA news release.

NIFA will fund the awards through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).

“AFRI was created to find innovative solutions to the challenges we face as a society, such as hunger and food security, health, climate, food safety and bioenergy, said Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director.

Fiscal Year 2015 AFRI’s requests for applications programs include water, food safety, climate, childhood obesity prevention and food security.

Application deadlines vary by program area. Click here for application details.