Dear Colleagues,
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) has announced the 2019/2020 Pest Management Alliance Grant Solicitation.
CDPR is mandated to: provide for the proper, safe, and efficient use of pesticides essential for production of food and fiber and for protection of the public health and safety; protect the environment from environmentally harmful pesticides by prohibiting, regulating, or ensuring proper stewardship of those pesticides, and; to encourage the development and implementation of pest management systems, stressing application of biological and cultural pest control techniques with selective pesticides with selective pesticides when necessary to achieve acceptable levels of control with the least possible harm to non-target organisms and the environment. DPR's mission is “to protect human health and the environment by regulating pesticide sales and use, and by fostering reduced-risk pest management.
The Pest Management Alliance Grant Program was created to promote the adoption of reduced-risk pest management systems and practices on a regional scale. The goal of the Alliance Grant program is to fund projects that use various “systems” to promote the voluntary adoption of IPM practices that will reduce the risks of pesticides to human health and the environment in agricultural and non-agricultural settings. Projects must use a “system” to promote the voluntary adoption of IPM practices that will reduce the risks of pesticides to human health and the environment in agricultural or non-agricultural settings and be regional in geographic scope. The term “systems” includes both established pest control strategic practices, commonly referred to as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and the social, cultural, and economic drivers that determine if those IPM practices are adopted1. Because IPM is a strategic practice, it is context dependent -agricultural and non-agricultural sites require very different IPM strategies for one example. Projects to promote the adoption of effective IPM practices that were developed with the aid of a DPR Research Grant are encouraged to apply to the Alliance Grant Program.
Selected Alliance Grant projects will promote the adoption of reduced-risk pest management systems and practices on a regional scale in California through the guidance of a collaborative team of knowledgeable participants known as the Alliance Team. The Alliance Team should include interested parties such as commodity group representatives, growers, academic and private researchers, school district representatives, representatives of public health entities, urban or industry representatives, sustainability or certification programs, NGOs, and other entities with a regional scope. Alliance Grant projects must demonstrate that the adoption of established IPM strategies has occurred during the term of the grant. Research may be a minor component of the overall project, but CDPR will not fund Alliance Grant projects that focus primarily on research.
A total of $400,000 is available for projects ($50,000-$200,000 per project) that focus on promoting the adoption of reduced-risk pest management systems and practices on a regional scale. DPR will consider projects of up to 33 months in length. CDPR expects to fund from two to three Alliance Grant projects.
If you are interested in this funding opportunity, please note that required concept proposals must be submitted by 5:00 PM PST on Friday, February 1, 2019. Phase II full proposals are by CDPR invitation only. Application materials are available at the following link: https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pestmgt/grants/alliance/solicitation.htm
On Friday, January 11, 2019, at 10:00 AM PT, CDPR will hold a teleconference to answer questions about the grant program and the application process. The conference call-in number is 1-877-820-7831 with participant passcode 357242.
For additional information on the Pest Management Alliance Grant Program, please visit http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pestmgt/grants/alliance/index.htm.
Thank you.
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)