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

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103 Grants found

FFAR Fellows Program 2025 Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Seventh Cohort

Building Agroecosystem Soil Health to Adapt to Climate and Regulatory Realities while Protecting Rural Community Health

Leveraging multi-scale datasets and modeling tools for improved soil health and carbon management

Next-generation Sustainable Weed Management Enabled by Micro-targeted Legged Robots

Exploring Novel Promoter Alleles for Multiple Vitamin Biofortification Using a Calli-Derived Somatic Embryo Platform

Electrochemically Assisted Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Distributed & Sustainable Fertilizer Production

Understanding Plant Parasitic Nematode Virulence Mechanisms: A Valuable Approach to Expedite Breeding Durable & Broad-spectrum Crop Resistance

Novel Biobased Antiviral Treatments for Bee Pollinator Health

Developing Multifunctional & Durable Agro-based Food Packaging to Reduce Toxic Plastic Waste & Sustainably Advance a Bioeconomy

Water & Soil Sustainability for Nutritious Rice Production

Perennial Grain Staple Foods Program

FFAR Fellows Program 2024 Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Sixth Cohort

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship First Cohort

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Kirchner Food Fellowship HBCU 2023-2024 Cohort

Kirchner Food Fellowship Inaugural HBCU Cohort (2021-22)

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FFAR Vet Fellows Fifth Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Fourth Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Third Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Second Cohort

FFAR Vet Fellows Inaugural Cohort

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National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Huaijun Zhou

The Revitalization of Indigenous Crops in the Southwest

Developing circular urban food systems for a rapidly growing desert city

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Big Data to Improve and Sustain Wheat End-Use Quality in the Face of Increasingly Variable Climate Scenarios

Evaluating the use of calcium silicate amendments to manage the bioavailability of organic carbon in agricultural soils

Advancing the Design and Fabrication of Biopolymer-based Nanocomposites for Sustainable Food Packaging

Using a novel RNA therapy to tackle dual threat of tomato spotted wilt virus, a pandemic agricultural pathogen and its supervector, thrips

Harnessing mycorrhizal-microbial synergies for agricultural resilience and health

Establish Power-to-Food by Cultivating and Processing Hydrogenotrophic Single Cells to Design New Sustainable Protein Supply Chains Without Arable Land

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Next-Generation Carbon Capture for Agricultural Crop Applications

Orthogonal Nano-Engineering (ONE) for Rational Design of Food Contact Surfaces

Establishing Viable Organic Orchard Crop Systems for the Northeast U.S.

Kirchner Food Fellowship HBCU 2022-23 Cohort

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: David Lobell

Recycling nutrients for robust agricultural supply chains

Next-generation phenotyping and genomics for identifying, breeding, and managing more sustainable beef cattle

A Big Data Tool for Urban Tree Crop Selection Under Climate Change

Leveraging Phasic Environment and Nutrient Solution Management to Improve Resource Use Efficiency of Indoor Vertical Farming

Enabling sustainable soil and water management through microbe-powered RF soil sensing

Agroecosystem responses to climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity in the United States and Latin America

Targeted On-Demand Disease Management Practices/Therapies

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Rodolphe Barrangou

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Establishing Predictive Genomics to Improve Pollinator Health

Holistic Irrigation Strategies for Climate-Smart Agriculture

Tribal Agriculture Fellowship Inaugural Cohort

Reinvigorating Soybean Yield for 21st Century Agriculture

Understanding the roots of soil health

Enhancing the sustainability of finfish aquaculture to increase production and public acceptance

Digging deeper: Removing the barriers to soil compaction mitigation

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Fermentation to unlock the potential of underutilized Indigenous plants – an integrated traditional ecological knowledge innovation toward bio- and techno-functional benefits

Improving soil health by engineering a rhizobacterium to depend on a plant and stimulate its immune system

Creating a nitrogen fixing symbiont for cereal crops

Advancing Water Policy for Agricultural Sustainability

Building our understanding of soil health practice adoption through knowledge co-production with farmers

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Christina Grozinger

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Zachary Lippman

Field-deployable biosensors for managing animal health

A Multi-Scale Approach to Unearth the Root of Plant Disease Resistance

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An Integrative Approach to Biofortification of Staple Crops

Uncovering the Genetic Architecture of Inducible Chemical Defenses in Crop and Wild Sunflower for the Sustainable Control of Pests and Pathogens

Engineering crops for cultivation in controlled environments

Developing Novel Strategies for Improved Control and Sustainability of Grapevine Bunch Rot Management

Harnessing the soil microbiome to increase soil health and plant productivity

Kirchner Food Fellowship 2020-21 Cohort

Kirchner Food Fellowship 2019-20 Cohort

Kirchner Food Fellowship 2018-19 Cohort

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Metagenomic Probes for the Rapid Identification of the Microbiome Community in A Wheat Rhizospheremodel System

A Systematic Approach to Improve Heifer Selection and the Sustainability of Beef Production.

Improving the Nutritional Quality of Tomatoes

Harnessing Multi-Trophic Chemical Ecology to Obtain Sustainable Pest Control and Improved Soil Health

National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Research: Elizabeth Ainsworth

Towards Production of Residue-Free Healthy Fruit Crops

Optimizing Water Use in Agriculture by Stacking Conservation Practices

Innovations in the Food Supply Chain to Reduce Food Waste

Harnessing Endophytes to Improve Crop Efficiency and Production

Direct Linkage of Dietary Components with Metabolizers in the Microbiota

Effects of Asymptomatic Listeriosis on Dairy Cattle Fecal Microbiota

Developing CRISPR-Cpf1 Genome Editing Technologies for Crop Improvement

A Coupled Natural-Human System Approach to Solving Locust Plagues

Using Active Organic Matter Tests to Help Predict Crop Nutrient Needs

Plant-Nanoparticle Hybrids: Optimize Crop Engineering and Nutrient Delivery

Improving Simulations of Water Dynamics and Crop Yield in the Corn Belt

Individually-targeted incentives, diet quality and health outcomes among adults

Innovation at the Nexus of Computational, Membrane and Plant Biology

Diet, the human gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolic health

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Developing Massively Parallel Sequence for Agricultural Surveillance

A Novel Bioassay for Culturing and Characterizing Fastidious Phytopathogens

Using Eye Tracking to Better Understand Food Choices

Going Back to the Roots To Transform Soil Health into Yield

Advances in Water Limited Irrigation Management

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Enhancing Crop Pollination, Pest Control and Yield in Urban Agriculture

Building Soil Health Through Rotational Diversity and Soil Microorganisms

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FFAR Fellows Program 2025 Cohort 

Year Awarded  2025

Location   Raleigh, NC

Matching Funders   North Carolina State University

Grantee Institution   North Carolina State University

A unique three-year fellowship that prepares up to 48 graduate students to be the next generation of food and agriculture scientists by using an interdisciplinary approach to career readiness. Fellows work with university and industry representatives, as well as their peers, to conduct urgent research and engage in professional development.

FFAR Vet Fellows Seventh Cohort 

Year Awarded  2025

Total award amount   $16,000 per student

Location   Washington, D.C.

Matching Funders   American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC)

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) announced the 15 recipients of the 2025 Veterinary Student Research Fellowships (Vet Fellows) in partnership with the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC). This fellowship creates opportunities for veterinary students to pursue research on global food security and sustainable animal production.

Building Agroecosystem Soil Health to Adapt to Climate and Regulatory Realities while Protecting Rural Community Health 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $439,701

Total award amount   $439,698

Location   Santa Cruz, CA

Grantee Institution   University of California, Santa Cruz

California’s agricultural watersheds face the dual challenge of water scarcity and water quality issues. This research is tackling complex and seemingly unsolvable problems affecting California’s agricultural communities by conducting on-farm work to gather information on how various soil health practices influence carbon, nitrogen and water in soil across diverse regions. The project will combine this data into a causal model that can help determine how different soil health practices will impact carbon sequestration, water scarcity and water quality under different climates and regulations, to increase farmer adoption of the practices.

Leveraging multi-scale datasets and modeling tools for improved soil health and carbon management 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $443,206

Total award amount   $533,038

Location   New York, NY

Matching Funders   Columbia University

Grantee Institution   Columbia University

Farmers and other agricultural decision makers often have trouble accessing reliable soil health information to guide their choices. This project is using existing data along with building new, integrated databases to develop a novel modeling system that combines process-based methods, advanced sensor technologies and stakeholder input to track soil health outcomes better. By delivering timely and interactive information connected to management scenarios, the project aims to help farmers and ranchers adopt practices that improve soil health, reduce nutrient loss and strengthen ecosystem resilience.

Next-generation Sustainable Weed Management Enabled by Micro-targeted Legged Robots 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $450,000

Total award amount   $531,003

Location   Ithaca, NY

Matching Funders   Cotton Incorporated; NC Small Grain Growers Association, Inc.; Z3 Agriculture

Grantee Institution   Cornell University

Weeds are developing herbicide resistance faster than new herbicides can be created. As a result, farmers face lower profits and yields, while greater chemical use threatens soil and water health. Xiang’s research seeks to replace the costly machinery and large quantities of chemicals used for weed control with AI-powered lightweight robots for targeted weed management. These robots can apply micro levels of herbicide at the site of weed growth, reducing chemical use by 99%, lowering costs and limiting farm workers’ exposure to chemicals. This treatment also minimizes field disturbance by protecting crop roots.

Exploring Novel Promoter Alleles for Multiple Vitamin Biofortification Using a Calli-Derived Somatic Embryo Platform 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $448,852

Total award amount   $539,690

Location   Johnson City, TN

Matching Funders   East Tennessee State University

Grantee Institution   East Tennessee State University

While seeds are rich in energy sources, they lack many micronutrients, including multiple vitamins. Although seeds have the genetic potential to create vitamins, researchers struggle to increase seeds’ nutritional value because the synthesis of many vitamins in seeds are not active. Sun’s research is identifying DNA switches in seeds that, when activated, allow targeted gene editing to create biofortified seeds. Sun is also developing a speedier technique for screening DNA for these switches that avoids the time-consuming seed screening process.

Electrochemically Assisted Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Distributed & Sustainable Fertilizer Production 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $450,000

Total award amount   $450,000

Location   Baltimore, MD

Grantee Institution   Johns Hopkins University

Ammonia is a critical component of commonly used fertilizers, but its production is energy intensive and restricted to large, centralized plants in a few countries. These factors contribute to the agricultural system’s vulnerability to rising energy costs and supply chain disruptions. Rossi’s research is studying the use of renewable energy to stimulate and accelerate ammonia production in bacteria. The research aims to allow localized, on-farm ammonia production, ensuring farmers always have access to a low-cost and readily available fertilizer supply.

Understanding Plant Parasitic Nematode Virulence Mechanisms: A Valuable Approach to Expedite Breeding Durable & Broad-spectrum Crop Resistance 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $449,989

Total award amount   $449,989

Location   New Haven, CT

Grantee Institution   Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Research Foundation

Root-knot nematodes are parasitic worms that infect economically important crops by attacking plant roots, reducing yields or even destroying entire fields. Traditional plant breeding has struggled to produce crop varieties with broad, lasting resistance. Rocha’s research studies the molecular genetics of plant nematode interactions to develop plants that use RNA to target proteins produced by nematodes, preventing the parasite from developing in the root.

Novel Biobased Antiviral Treatments for Bee Pollinator Health 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $449,493

Total award amount   $449,493

Location   Albany, CA

Grantee Institution   USDA-ARS Pollinator Health Unit, Davis

Honey bees are essential agricultural pollinators that are threatened by a constant flux of interacting stressors. Viral pathogens are strongly linked to managed bee colony losses worldwide. Antiviral treatments are needed to support beekeeping industries and uphold crucial pollination services. Ricigliano’s lab is developing bee antiviral treatments that are cost-effective, scalable and do not rely on synthetic chemicals. The project incorporates biotechnological approaches and natural product-based treatments to improve bee immunity and virus resistance.

Developing Multifunctional & Durable Agro-based Food Packaging to Reduce Toxic Plastic Waste & Sustainably Advance a Bioeconomy 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $445,585

Total award amount   $445,585

Location   Lubbock, TX

Grantee Institution   Texas Tech University

Single-use plastic packaging releases microplastics that pollute land and water and cause cancer and other illnesses. Plant-based, single-use food packaging are an alternative but this packaging is not as strong as plastic and is not as resistant to water and grease. Rajan’s research seeks to overcome these challenges by developing high performance, plant-based packaging. Using plant residue from agriculture production, Rajan is enhancing the durability, strength and processing ability of bio-based packaging.