The IR-4 Project

What The IR-4 Project does

The IR-4 Project is a federally-funded agricultural research consortium established in 1963 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and land-grant universities to address the "Minor Use Problem" — the absence of registered crop protection products for specialty crops and minor uses on major crops because the agrochemical industry lacks financial incentive to extend registrations to smaller-acreage crops. IR-4 develops residue, efficacy, and crop safety data required by the EPA and submits petitions for tolerance registrations on behalf of specialty crop growers. The organization operates as a unique partnership between USDA (NIFA and ARS), State Agricultural Experiment Stations, EPA, the agrochemical industry, commodity groups, and growers, with governance exercised through a Project Management Committee and Commodity Liaison Committee.

IR-4 delivers its services through three core programs — the Food Crops Program (fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts), the Environmental Horticulture Program (greenhouse, nursery, and ornamental crops, originally established in 1977), and the Biopesticide Regulatory Support Program (regulatory assistance to public-sector scientists and small businesses seeking EPA registration for biologically-based products). Supporting infrastructure includes the Electronic Field Data Book for digital data capture, the eQA/eDOCs compliance and document management system, three searchable stakeholder databases (Food Crops, Environmental Horticulture, Biopesticides and Organic Support), and the internationally-accepted Crop Grouping System that allows residue data from one representative crop to extend to similar crops. The annual Food Use Workshop and biennial Environmental Horticulture Workshop serve as the primary priority-setting mechanisms for new research projects.

IR-4 generates no commercial revenue. It is funded primarily through USDA NIFA grants — most recently a four-year, $56 million award (grant number 2022-79111-38469), the first multi-year grant in its history. Services are provided at no cost to specialty crop growers, who access IR-4 through five regional field offices (Southern at University of Florida, Northeast at University of Maryland, Western at UC Davis, North Central at Michigan State University) plus a USDA-ARS US Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, SC. Headquarters, hosted at NC State University since October 2021, employs 51-100 staff in Raleigh, NC. In March 2026, Lina Quesada-Ocampo succeeded Jerry Baron as Executive Director after Baron's 40-year tenure.

Name

The IR-4 Project

Legal name

The IR-4 Project

Website

https://ir4project.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The IR-4 Project is a federally-funded agricultural research consortium, established in 1963, that develops residue and efficacy data to support EPA registration of pest management products for U.S. specialty crops and minor uses on major crops.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research and Pesticide Regulatory Support

NAICS

Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (924), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Biologicals Regulatory, Testing & Quality Assurance Services (AFABAEAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Crop Protection Chemicals (Herbicides/Insecticides/Fungicides) (IMAEAEAI), Biological Pest Control (Beneficial Insects, Nematodes, Microbials) (AFABAKAB), Insecticides (AFABAAAB), Grain Protectants & Post-Harvest Insecticide Application (AFAOAIAF)

Keywords

• Pesticide registration research
• Specialty crop pest management
• EPA regulatory data
• Agricultural residue studies
• Biopesticide regulatory support

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. USDA NIFA Grants: IR-4 is funded primarily through grant awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The project received a four-year, $56 million grant (award number 2022-79111-38469) with substantial cooperation and support from State Agricultural Experiment Stations, USDA-ARS, USDA-APHIS, and USDA-FAS.
2. Cooperative Research Agreements: IR-4 operates through partnerships with USDA agencies, State Agricultural Experiment Stations, land-grant universities, and other government agencies. The organization coordinates research at universities and USDA facilities without traditional product sales revenue.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The IR-4 Project conducts field research and laboratory analyses to generate the residue, efficacy, and crop safety data that the U.S. EPA requires to register pest management products (conventional pesticides and biopesticides) for specialty crops such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts, and ornamentals, as well as for minor uses on major crops. Its deliverables include EPA tolerance petitions, regulatory submissions, and maintained searchable databases of registered uses.

Product overview

The IR-4 Project is a USDA-funded research consortium that operates as a partnership between USDA, land-grant universities, and the EPA to facilitate regulatory approval of pest management technologies for specialty crops. The organization offers a portfolio of interconnected programs: the Food Crops Program and Environmental Horticulture Program serve as the two core research initiatives that generate residue, efficacy, and crop safety data; the Biopesticide Regulatory Support Program provides regulatory assistance for biologically-based products; and multiple searchable databases (Food Crops Database, Environmental Horticulture Database, Biopesticides and Organic Support Database) disseminate research results. Supporting tools include the eQA/eDOCs electronic document management system and the Electronic Field Data Book for digital data collection. The organization's annual Food Use Workshop and biennial Environmental Horticulture Workshop serve as the primary stakeholder priority-setting mechanisms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Food Crop Program: Program facilitating regulatory approval of safe pest management solutions for specialty crop growers including fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts, and other specialty crops
• Environmental Horticulture Program
• Biopesticide Regulatory Support Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 75,000+ registrations of pest management technologies supported
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• State Agricultural Experiment StationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState Agricultural Experiment Stations across the country partner with IR-4 to conduct research and provide local expertise for specialty crop pest management needs. These land-grant university facilities host regional field offices and conduct field trials.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIR-4 works directly with EPA to develop data required for the registration of pest management tools for specialty crops. After developing required research data, IR-4 submits petitions to EPA for tolerance registrations.
• NC State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIR-4 headquarters transitioned to NC State University effective October 1, 2021. The university provides administrative support, office space, and academic resources for IR-4 operations.
• University of FloridacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts the Southern Region IR-4 office at the Gainesville campus. Regional Field Coordinator Kristen Searer-Jones leads efforts to address pest management needs for specialty crop growers in the Southern Region.
• University of MarylandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts the Northeast Region IR-4 office at the Lower Eastern Shore Research & Education Center in Salisbury. Regional Field Coordinator Megan Hickman serves Northeast Region growers.
• University of California, DaviscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts the Western Region IR-4 office. Regional Field Coordinator Kari Arnold and Assistant Coordinator Mika Tolson lead Western Region efforts covering California and Western states.
• Michigan State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts the North Central Region IR-4 office. Regional Field Coordinator Nicole Soldan leads efforts for the North Central Region, which includes multiple midwestern states.
• USDA-ARS US Vegetable LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSDA Agricultural Research Service facility in Charleston, SC. Alvin Simmons leads IR-4 research activities at this federal research facility.
• Minor Use FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEstablished in 2018 with the mission of expanding and harmonizing international MRLs to break down trade barriers for agricultural products. IR-4 collaborates with the foundation on global priority setting and international capacity building.
• Center of Excellence for Regulatory Science in AgriculturesupportingTechnology or IntegrationPartnership focused on regulatory science excellence for agriculture, supporting IR-4's mission to facilitate regulatory approvals for pest management technology.
• NSF Center for Integrated Pest ManagementsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner for integrated pest management research and knowledge sharing across IPM centers.
• Regional Integrated Pest Management CenterssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorth Central, Northeastern, Southern, and Western IPM Centers collaborate with IR-4 on research coordination and pest management initiatives.
• Health Canada-Pest Management Regulatory AuthoritysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partner for pesticide MRL harmonization and regulatory cooperation for minor use pesticides between the US and Canada.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada-Pest Management CentresupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCanadian counterpart to IR-4, working on collaborative efforts for global minor use pesticide harmonization and MRL standards.
• Department of Defense - Deployed Warfighter Protection ProgramsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide regulatory support for public health pesticides through the DWFP program.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Regional IPM Centers (North Central, Northeastern, Southern, Western): USDA-NIFA-funded regional IPM Centers collaborate directly with IR-4 on research coordination and pest management initiatives. They operate the same multi-region, university-hosted model with overlapping grower and commodity stakeholder engagement.
• Center of Excellence for Regulatory Science in Agriculture (CERSA): A regulatory science partner organization working to advance data quality and regulatory frameworks for agricultural products. The peer relationship with IR-4 is explicitly disclosed as a partnership to facilitate pesticide technology approvals.
• Minor Use Foundation: Established in 2018 with IR-4 involvement, the Minor Use Foundation pursues a nearly identical mission of expanding and harmonizing international MRLs and supporting global specialty crop trade. It is the closest peer, differentiated mainly by its international and capacity-building orientation versus IR-4's domestic US focus.
• NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management: Also housed at NC State University and listed as an IR-4 partner, this center coordinates IPM research and extension. It shares IR-4's pest management orientation and North Carolina institutional base, serving complementary rather than overlapping roles.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – Pest Management Centre (AAFC-PMC): AAFC-PMC is IR-4's direct Canadian counterpart, conducting minor use pesticide research and generating data for Canadian registrations. It is explicitly identified by IR-4 as a partner on global MRL harmonization and is functionally a national twin of IR-4.

Others

• CropLife America: Industry trade association representing major agrochemical registrants that participate in IR-4's Industry Technology Session and submit product candidates for IR-4 study. It is an adjacent ecosystem participant — not a research peer, but a critical partner on the registrant side of IR-4's workflow.

Broad incumbents

• USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS): USDA-ARS is IR-4's primary federal research partner and co-funds and co-executes studies (e.g., US Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, SC). It is a much larger umbrella research agency with broader agricultural science scope, but the IPM and pesticide workstreams materially overlap with IR-4.
• U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP): IR-4's primary regulatory counterpart and the federal agency to which IR-4 submits tolerance petitions. OPP is the larger statutory authority that IR-4's work feeds into; comparison illuminates IR-4's positioning as a research/registration-support body rather than a regulator.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ir4_project
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCsFFM-zKnp40DxBJFAUcxiQ/playlists
• Facebookfacebook.com/IR4Project
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ir-4-project

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The IR-4 Project