North Central Soybean Research Grant Program (NCSRP)

The grant program emphasizes several key principles and objectives:

• NCSRP identifies specific regional research priorities every five years, covering diseases, insects, production practices, etc., ensuring these are not redundant with existing state or national programs but rather complementary.
• It requires collaborative connectivity with regional soybean boards and clear documentation of research funding sources in proposals.
• Multi-year projects are encouraged, with annual renewals based on the generation of meaningful results.
• There's a strong focus on disseminating research through scientific publications, extension publications, and farmer-focused materials.

The grant supports collaborative soybean research objectives prioritizing:

• Yield and quality enhancement via genetic improvement and stress mitigation.
• Addressing control of insects, diseases, weed resistance, and soybean response to unique regional conditions.
• Advancing soybean production practices that boost yield, profitability, and environmental stewardship, such as crop rotations, input management, and sustainability assessments.

Research proposals are encouraged to be collaborative, multi-state, and multi-disciplinary, fitting into key areas like soybean improvement tools & technology, extreme weather resiliency, and agritechnology decision making. Funding levels vary with the scope, reaching up to $450,000 for multi-region projects and $70,000 for single-region initiatives.