Awarded Grants
Below is a listing of our awarded grants that tackle big food and agriculture challenges.

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8 Grants found

Circular Economy That Reimagines Corn Agriculture 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $4,500,000

Total award amount   $9,000,000

Location   Beltsville, MD

Matching Funders   Bayer, Corteva, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, GoogleX, KWS, Limagrain Field Seeds

Grantee Institution   USDA Agricultural Research Service

Grain production, including corn production, in the United States is highly efficient in terms of labor, cost and land, yet generates massive nitrogen losses that end up in our waterways and generate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change, while costing farmers money. The CERCA (Circular Economy that Reimagines Corn Agriculture) project led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, along with 13 university research partners, is transforming corn production toward a goal of nitrogen circularity by developing corn genetics that both recycles nutrients to decrease fertilizer use and tolerates colder temperatures, so it can be planted earlier in the growing season when soil nitrogen is plentiful.

Grant Improves Stress Tolerance in Carrots 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $500,000

Total award amount   $1,000,000

Location   Davis, CA

Matching Funders   Bayer, Bejo Zaden, Enza Zaden, Rijk Zwaan, Takii Seed Vilmorin Mikado

Grantee Institution   University of California, Davis

Carrot growers face a variety of both climate and biological threats, including water access and diseases such as Alternaria leaf blight (Alternaria), a disease that can reduce yield by 40-60%. Some cultivated carrots are partially resistant to Alternaria but still require frequent fungicide applications to fully protect crops from this disease. University of California, Davis researchers are tapping into the genetic diversity of wild carrots to breed Alternaria resistance and the ability to grow in water-deficient conditions into cultivated carrots.

An International Collaboration for Combating Fusarium Wilt in Cotton 

Year Awarded  2023

FFAR award amount   $750,000

Total award amount   $1,922,439

Location   Clemson, SC

Matching Funders   Clemson University, Cotton, Inc., Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Grantee Institution   Clemson University

Cotton farmers worldwide have long witnessed Fusarium wilt (FOV), a fungal disease that causes rapid wilting and sudden death of cotton plants in nearly all cotton growing regions of the world. FOV cannot be eradicated through biological or chemical treatments, threatening cotton production and farmers’ livelihoods. Clemson researchers are developing germplasm to combat Fusarium wilt, specifically wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum vasinfectum race 4 (FOV4), which infects Upland cotton. They are also collaborating with Australian scientists and using new breeding tools to determine if recently discovered FOV4 resistance genes in U.S. cotton can also provide resistance in Australian cotton.

Improving Protein Content & Quality in Peas 

Year Awarded  2021

FFAR award amount   $612,257

Total award amount   $800,000

Location   St. Paul, MN

Program   Plant Protein Enhancement Project

Matching Funders   Benson Hill, Keygene, Syngenta, University of Minnesota

Grantee Institution   University of Minnesota

Plant protein is an important part of the global diet, but there are barriers limiting plant protein’s potential. Some amino acids, which are essential to diets, are missing or less abundant in plant protein. Also, a popular plant protein, soy, is an allergen for many. One alternative to soy is pea protein, but its nutritional value lags soy. University of Minnesota researchers are studying pea protein, develop methods for screening peas with superior protein nutrition and quality and breed these traits to cultivated peas.

CRISPR-Combo Allows Gene Editing and Culture Regeneration 

Year Awarded  2021

FFAR award amount   $664,000

Total award amount   $739,000

Location   College Park, MD

Program   Accelerated Crop Breeding

Matching Funders   BASF

Grantee Institution   University of Maryland

While gene editing technology has improved crop breeding and adaptation, the process of regrowing a plant from edited cells is costly, lengthy and unpredictable. Many popular crops are difficult to regenerate with existing methods. Researchers at the University of Maryland are developing a CRISPR-Combo system that will use CRISPR gene editing technology to kick-start the regeneration process.

Increasing total protein content in pea using large-scale phenotyping and targeted breeding with genomic selection 

Year Awarded  2021

FFAR award amount   $1,012,500

Total award amount   $1,200,000

Location   Fargo, ND

Program   Plant Protein Enhancement Project

Matching Funders   Benson Hill, Keygene, Syngenta, North Dakota State University, Open Philanthropy

Grantee Institution   North Dakota State University

Peas are a popular source of plant protein, their production has a limited environmental footprint and they are economically beneficial for farmers. Although breeding efforts are partially focused on improving the nutritional content of peas, this gain is not happening fast enough to meet growing demand. North Dakota State University researchers are building genomic resources, breeding models and tools for improving total protein content in peas.

Crops of the Future: Corn Drought Resistance 

Year Awarded  2019

FFAR award amount   $900,000

Total award amount   $1,800,000

Location   Madison, WI

Matching Funders   Inari, KWS, Syngenta

Grantee Institution   University of Wisconsin Madison

Drought is a primary limitation to crop production that impacts future food security. Researchers at the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System are enhancing genetic characterization and prediction of drought response in maize.

Crops of the Future Initial Project: Leafy Greens 

Year Awarded  2018

FFAR award amount   $2,500,000

Total award amount   $5,097,530

Location   Davis, CA

Matching Funders   BASF Vegetable Seeds, Bejo Zaden B.V., Benson Hill Biosystems, Inc., Enza Zaden Research and Development, B.V., Gautier Semences, Keygene, N.V., Progeny Advanced Genetics Inc., Ramiro Arnedo S.A., Rijk Zwaan Zaadteelt en Zaadhandel B.V., Sakata Seed Corporation, Syngenta Crop Protection AG, Takii and Company Ltd., Tanimura & Antle Value Added LLC, Vilmorin S.A.

Grantee Institution   University of California Davis

Downy mildew is a damaging pathogen that threatens the $3 billion lettuce industry, causing losses for farmers in the field and post-harvest and requiring expensive chemical control measures. University of California, Davis researchers are using genomics approaches help leafy green plants resist downy mildew.