Common use of PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Clause in Contracts

PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. This Annual Program Statement (APS) outlines the intent to establish public-partnerships to evaluate, develop, and/or broaden deployment of transgenic technologies conferring tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heat and for improving nitrogen use efficiency in rice and wheat. Through this APS, USAID will facilitate the evaluation of selected technologies under field conditions in India, the most promising of which may be selected for further development and delivery to Indian farmers, and, eventually South Asian farmers. Private-sector firms are especially encouraged to apply, though all technology developers will be considered, including public and private universities and research institutions. This project will focus on advanced stages of the product development process, beginning with the evaluation of a range of promising trait-crop combinations in field trials under local conditions and continuing with the development of a regulatory package and deployment strategy for selected technologies. For each technology selected, USAID intends to support partnerships that may include any combination of the technology provider, an Indian public sector institution and/or an Indian private sector partner. Through this APS USAID will provide initial grants to technology providers and their partners for the purpose of evaluating selected technologies under field conditions in India, and where results are sufficiently promising, develop a plan to commercialize the technology. After a period of 2-3 years, USAID expects to select several of these technologies for further field testing, product development, biosafety data package assembly and eventual delivery of improved varieties to farmers. Technology providers may build on existing collaborations and establish partnerships themselves or request USAID assistance in identifying appropriate public and/or private partners in India. Future support for this program is subject to the availability of funding, and USAID may choose to support all, some or none of the selected technologies in future funding cycles through other mechanisms. In addition to providing grants, USAID may leverage additional contributions, both financial and in-kind, from other donors. USAID may provide assistance, if needed, in selecting partners and/or developing a commercialization strategy for each technology. USAID may also provide assistance, if needed, with meeting biosafety requirements in India by mobilizing resources through related USAID programs. Grant recipients and their partners, however, will ultimately be responsible for obtaining all required permits related to the transport, importation, environmental release and commercialization of transgenic materials. Grantees may also provide additional resources in the form of equipment, facilities, and technical expertise. Eligible technologies will be those that use bioengineering (transgenic, biotech) methods to confer abiotic stress tolerance to rice and wheat. Targeted traits include drought tolerance, salinity tolerance, heat tolerance, and nitrogen use efficiency. Strong preference will be given to technologies that have been field tested in a monocot crop plant; demonstrated effectiveness in rice and/or wheat would be desirable. USAID is particularly interested in technologies that address projected climate change scenarios, such as reduced grain yield due to higher temperatures and variable or reduced water supply. Technologies that reduce the environmental impact of agriculture, such as by limiting greenhouse gas emissions, fertilizer applications or energy inputs, or that reduce ▇▇▇▇▇▇ risk, by increasing crop resilience, are also of significant interest. This APS will not support evaluation or development of traits that do not directly confer abiotic stress tolerance, such as pest or disease resistance, nutritional enhancement or herbicide tolerance, except as additional stacked traits.