USDA will grant $20.2 million to help 34 small businesses move forward with innovative research and development projects to benefit food security, natural resources conservation and other agricultural issues. These competitive grants are made through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which is coordinated by the Small Business Administration and administered by 11 federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)…

Grafted Growers, LLC, in Tucson, Ariz, will improve crop production methods and strategies and promote energy conservation and efficiency by developing a sustainable indoor crop growing system (SIGS). SIGS will produce large numbers of affordable, higher quality vegetable transplants using fewer resources using less land than current greenhouse and field production systems…