FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship Program

Deadline: 9-Aug-23

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and OCP North America (OCPNA), a subsidiary of the global plant-nutrition company OCP Group, created the FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship (FFAR-OCP Fellowship) to provide early-career scientists with opportunities to advance research on precision fertilizer application methods, nutrient recommendation methods and guidance on land applications of animal waste to customize and enhance fertilizer efficiency.

This competitive fellowship aims to spur and foster disruptive innovation in the next generation of fertilizer research and development, whereby emerging young scientists in agriculture research will be identified, selected and funded through a 12-to-24-month period to support their efforts in fertilizer efficiency research and technology development. The technologies and research generated through this project would address the need for increasing plant uptake of essential macronutrients and limit the loss of inputs – which contribute largely to water and marine ecosystem damage – while boosting productivity.

Ultimately, the FFAR-OCP Fellowship intends to deliver new innovations in fertilizer products that are safe, effective, commercially scalable and easily understood by farmers.

The FFAR-OCP Fellowship is a two-year program supported by $250,000 from both FFAR and OCP North America for a total program fund of $500,000

Research Topics 

• The FFAR OCP Fellows program will support research in the following areas:
  • Gene editing/RNAi/Protein degradation approaches to enhance fertilizer use efficiency by plants.
  • Decarbonizing fertilizer production: A “greener” ammonia for “greener” fertilizer
  • Organic Fertilizers: Fertilizers qualified for organic certification with NPK macronutrients and/or organominerals.
  • Intelligent Fertilizers: Nanofertilizers and “smart” fertilizers that supply specific plant nutrient needs in real time (based on chemical formulations, coating, etc.)
  • Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers: Slow-release and control-release fertilizers; stabilized fertilizers with a demonstrated limited nutrient loss at field-scale; combined chemical and organic compounds to improve efficiency.
  • Biofertilizers: Chemical or biologicals that include highly agronomically efficient microbes such as phosphorus solubilizing bacteria, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, PGPRs, fungi and others and/or coating technology to improve long-lasting viability of microbes and feasibility of industrial production of biofertilizers.
  • Biostimulants: Biostimulants that control and/or boost development and/or are effective in alleviating biotic and abiotic stress.
  • Specialty products: Highly soluble fertilizers; highly efficient fertilizers for drip irrigation applications, foliar spray, and for specialty crops.

Award Information

• Awardees will receive a maximum of $75,000 that will cover 12 to 24 months of research. The awardees will also receive a certificate and be named as OCP/FFAR disruptive fertilizer technology fellows. Fellows may be extended the opportunity to partner with OCP and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco to co-develop novel fertilizer products that could be highly efficient both for high production and low input agriculture following the completion of the project.

Eligibility Criteria

• The fellowship provides support for up to three early career scientists who are within up to 10 years of receiving a Ph.D. to conduct research in fertilizer efficiency development.

For more information, visit Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR).