DARPA seeks innovative solutions to defend agriculture against threats

Protecting the nation’s food supply is a national security priority. To develop novel capabilities for defending agriculture against both naturally occurring and man-made threats, DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office (BTO) is soliciting innovative ideas through a new initiative, Ag x BTO.

The Ag x BTO Special Topic Area seeks solutions in five key areas:

1. Advances to early warning systems for chemical and biological threat surveillance and detection.
2. Rapid-response agricultural countermeasures to defend against threats.
3. Massively accelerated and expanded crop protections for long-term threat defeat.
4. Integrated and comprehensive threat prediction and modeling for agricultural systems.
5. Novel methods to assess the occurrence of human intervention and to attribute provenance.

"Our goal is to catalyze future innovation in agricultural defense throughout the supply chain," said Michael Koeris, director of DARPA's Biological Technologies Office. "We are looking for disruptive solutions that can be rapidly acquired and deployed to protect our nation's food security."

The topic area will be open for submissions through Aug. 31, 2025. DARPA may select teams to attend a workshop and follow-on pitch day in the Washington, D.C., area.

Submissions must be made through the ERIS Marketplace, accessible via https://www.darpaconnect.us/eris. The ERIS solicitation on sam.gov provides detailed submission instructions.

The submission process involves a video pitch, supplemental slides, and a submission form, all adhering to ERIS Marketplace guidelines. Submissions must address one of the five technical areas outlined in the problem statement.

Performers interested in proposing solutions against multiple problem statements must submit separate proposals. Submissions should not include human and/or animal subjects research.

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Media with inquiries should contact DARPA Public Affairs.