NYSERDA, the New York State Authority for Research and Development in the energy sector is defining a new way for the local agriculture offering fundings to support urban agriculture, hoping to secure food supplies and also to fulfill those citizens involved in the new tendencies directed to the protection of natural environment.

According to these new tendencies NYSERDA announced a program to encourage innovative local food production systems, such as Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), Modified Environment Agriculture (MEA) greenhouse technologies, aquaculture, and other farming applications.

NYSERDA decided to promote this modern tendencies of agriculture with the aim of reducing the actual wastes of fuel that occurs during the long-distance transport of food supplies from the production place to the retailers and to provide locally-sourced, high-quality food products, with little or no pesticide. All this is going also to boost the New York State agriculture.

CEA is a combination of engineering, plant science, and computer managed greenhouse control technologies. It optimizes plant growing systems, plant quality, and production efficiency. By controlling the plant’s environment, CEA provides secure, healthy and cost effective year-round production of many plants.

MEA includes low tunnel and high tunnel field applications and low tech greenhouses where the plant environment is protected to reduce the impacts of weather extremes. Aquaculture is the production of fish and seafood products in controlled environments.

This program will fund projects that expand the awareness and use of innovative food production systems in the state of New York.

This solicitation, according to NYSERDA source, seeks proposals from both technology researchers and technology users and proposals can fall under a range of categories, including experimental research, feasibility studies, commercial development, outreach projects and more.

NYSERDA will fund this innovative agriculture research and development through solicitation 'PON 1236' (=Energy Productivity in Innovative Local Food Production Systems).