Agricultural Sciences

In 2021, SreePVF expanded the Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Research Grant to include the agricultural sciences. The grant aims to provide last-mile funding for novel and sustainable solutions that benefit small and marginal farmers in India. This program provides a 50-lakh grant over two years to individuals and institutions whose work aligns with our mission to improve agriculture practices and promote sustainable solutions in the field. At SreePVF, we believe that through research and innovation, we can help drive progress and make a positive impact on society.

Grant at a Glance

This grant call is now open for 2023

Applications are closed for 2022

Grant Name : Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Research Grant

Type of Research: Agricultural

Level of Funding: Upto Rs.50 lakh

Duration of Funding: 2 years

Important Timeline

This grant call is now open for 2023

Application Process:

  1. Proposal Evaluation
  2. Peer review of selected applications
  3. Interviews of short-listed candidates for the final award

Institutional Eligibility

Individuals and teams from recognized universities, R&D institutions, and recognized non-profit research organizations in India are eligible to apply.

Proposals can come from a single institution or multiple institutions.

International Collaborations

International collaborations are eligible, but the lead organization must be based in India, and the funds will only be provided to the Indian side of the expenditure.

You’ll need to provide a strong justification for why the collaboration is essential for the execution of the project, what value it will add to the proposal, and why the work cannot be carried out in India.

Highlight any regulatory approvals needed from the Indian government for the collaboration, as well as material transfer.

Principal Investigator Requirements

The Principal Investigator should be below 50 years of age as on 31st March, 2023.

Funding Restrictions

Grants cannot be used for the salary of investigators.

You’ll need to have already secured a salaried job and space and support from the host institution before applying.

Sree PVF grants are not intended to duplicate support available from the Indian government or other sources.

If you’ve already received substantial funding for your core activities or similar work, you’ll only be eligible if you can demonstrate that the activity for which funding is sought is additional to the work for which you had already received funding from other sources.

Maximum Budget

The maximum budget for each grant is Rs. 50 lakh.

Grants will be disbursed in two tranches, with each tranche no more than Rs. 25 lakh per year.

Eligible Costs

Eligible costs for funding include capital expenditure (equipment), manpower, consumables, travel (no international travel) and local hospitality, contingency, overheads, field trials, safety studies, outsourcing, and others, such as training and awareness, workshops, publications, review meetings, etc., based on the requirement of the project.

Flexibility in Utilizing Budget

Sree PVF offers flexibility to the applicant in how they wish to utilize the budget as long as the requested costs are commensurate with the proposed research and are strongly justified.

Salary for Investigators

However, it’s important to note that the salary for investigators is not included in the grant.

The host institution is expected to provide salary and research support for the duration of the grant period.

Please click here to download the application format. 

Applicants are requested to take due diligence in filing the form and provide necessary information as required. Short-listed candidates would be required to present a research proposal before a selection committee through an online presentation.

Duly filled-in applications should be submitted through email: sreepvf.agriculture@gmail.com on or before 31st March 2023. Selection of the proposal/s for the award of grants is expected to be completed and announced by 31st May 2023. The successful applicant(s) will be intimated by email as well as will be declared on the Sree PVF website.

Scientific Novelty and Innovation: What innovative and novel solutions are proposed?

Relevance to Farming Community: How will the proposed solutions benefit small and marginal farming communities?

Sustainable solutions: Are the proposed solutions sustainable and easily accessible?

Cost-effectiveness: Does the proposal showcase cost-effectiveness?

The expertise of Applicants: What is the expertise of the applicant in fulfilling project objectives?

Readiness to Deploy: Is the proposed technology or research solution at a reasonable readiness level for deployment upon project completion?

Green Technology: Does the proposed project adhere to green technology principles?

Responsibility: Is the timeline and budget for the project on completion reasonable?

Review Committee

Five eminent scientists from the field of Agriculture in India constitute the review committee.

Chair

Dr Ramesh V. Sonti

Professor & Chair, Biology and Dean Faculty, IISER, Tirupati; Former Scientist and J. C. Bose fellow at CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad; former Director, NIPGR, New Delhi

Members of the Committee

Professor L S Shashidhara

Director, TIFR-NCBS, Bangalore; Professor (Biology), IISER, Pune; Professor (Honorary), Ashoka University, Sonepat

Dr Alok Kalra

Former Chief Scientist and Acting Director (now Consultant), Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, P.O. (CIMAP), Lucknow

Dr Navin Sharma

Director, International Agriculture Consulting Group; Former Head, Resources and Planning at Bangalore Life Science Cluster; Former Director, World Agroforestry Centre (Nairobi); Formerly at Unilever and ITC

Dr M. Sujatha

Director (A), ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad

Staff

Dr Amit Das

Coordinator and communication – Dr Amit Das, Startup Cofounder, former Scientist at DuPont Knowledge Center, Hyderabad

Dr Ponnari Gottipat

Grants Manager - Dr Ponnari Gottipati, SreePVF Foundation

Previous Awardees

2021: Dr Jagadis Gupta Kapuganti, National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR) for their work on developing a novel and cost-effective technology to prevent post-harvest losses of fruits

2022: Dr. P. Lavanya Kumari, S. V. Agricultural College, Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, and her collaborators for building an Artificial Intelligence based modeling of major pests in Rice crop to promote Forewarning advisory services in Andhra Pradesh.

2022: Dr. Koushik Mazumder, National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, and her collaborators for developing a novel edible coating material for the postharvest quality improvement of perishable fruit crops

For any queries write to

sreepvf.agriculture@gmail.com

India is rapidly transforming into a dynamic hub of intellectual innovation and discovery. To support the science and technology ecosystem in the country, the Sree Padmavathi Venkateswara Foundation has created peer- reviewed funding programs that recognize exceptional researchers with the potential to achieve ground-breaking results in areas of critical national
importance. Our foundation provides these researchers with generous funding and empowering mentorship to generate knowledge and develop sustainable solutions of the highest quality, particularly in the fields of biomedical and agricultural research. We also work on projects to deploy advanced knowledge and improve the income of small and marginal farmers. We believe that by working together, we can create sustainable solutions that will benefit not only India but also the world.

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