Proof- of-use grants embed first users in sustainable agricultural innovation

Public agricultural research funds ideas, laboratories and scientific outputs but does not always include first-user risk in the grant. This Perspective proposes proof-of-use grants as a translational layer between proof-of-concept and wider commercialisation. Its objective is to show how public grants can finance a named first-user platform, first-use risk, local capability, benefit retention, sustainability measurement and an exit pathway. The argument synthesises literature on innovation systems, participatory research, learning networks, living labs and agricultural innovation funds, then uses an Uzbekistan programme as a preliminary administrative illustration rather than an impact evaluation. Existing approaches engage farmers and subsidise demonstrations. The contribution is therefore not first-user involvement itself, but an integrated grant architecture that makes the user platform an eligible and accountable component from project inception. Laboratory, station and farmer-managed work can proceed in parallel, while baseline, comparator, cost, distributional and post-grant evidence tests technical, economic, environmental and social performance. It illustrates programme design only and does not establish causal effects. Proof-of-use funding could advance Sustainable Development Goals 2, 6, 8, 9 and 12 by linking food security, resource efficiency, rural livelihoods, innovation capacity and responsible production. These benefits are conditional. Poor targeting, grant dependency, moral hazard, elite capture and crowding out of private supply can undermine viability. Time-bound or graduated support, transparent selection, independent verification and predefined post-grant pathways are essential. Proof-of-use should complement controlled research and conventional commercialisation by requiring credible evidence that an innovation works for intended users and can persist after public support ends.