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

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454 Grants found

International Lettuce Genomics Consortium 4: Pre-competitive Foundational Research for Lettuce Breeding

Reducing the Carbon Footprint of U.S. Beef Cattle Production – a Texas Pilot Program

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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.

Water & Soil Sustainability for Nutritious Rice Production 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $427,120

Total award amount   $427,120

Location   Oneonta, NY

Grantee Institution   State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta

As cultivable land faces growing pressure from soil degradation, salinity and a changing climate, rice is increasingly grown in suboptimal conditions, raising the risk of lower grain nutrition and increased arsenic and cadmium contamination. Maguffin’s team at SUNY Oneonta studies how irrigation practices shape redox dynamics in rice paddy soils, influencing nutrient availability and toxin mobility. Using controlled growth chambers, they simulate future climate scenarios to examine how irrigation, salinity and elevated carbon dioxide interact with pore water, soil and rice genetics. Their work supports sustainable practices that improve food safety and grain nutritional quality.

Integrating Genomic Prediction with Crop Modeling to Develop Climate-Resilient Cultivars 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $448,491

Total award amount   $448,491

Location   Fayetteville, AR

Grantee Institution   University of Arkansas

Plant breeding and improved agriculture practices have increased crops’ yields and nutrition, but severe weather events threaten crop losses and food insecurity. The current genomic prediction models that plant breeders use to develop crops that can withstand weather stresses struggle to make accurate predictions about future weather conditions. To address this, Fernandes is developing machine-learning genomic prediction models that directly integrate crop growth models, which include plant physiology and environmental interactions. The genomic model and crop growth model will inform each other to generate enhanced yield predictions across current and potential future weather scenarios.

Perennial Grain Staple Foods Program 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $448,928

Total award amount   $657,514

Location   Salina, KS

Matching Funders   The Land Institute

Grantee Institution   The Land Institute

Perennial grains, which are planted once and harvested over several growing seasons, help preserve soil health and add variety to our food supply, decreasing risks from extreme weather, pests and pathogens. Craine and the Land Institute are working with stakeholders from local communities and industry, as well as farmers, chefs and consumers, to introduce perennial grains into our agricultural system. Research priorities include making grains edible, nutritious and appealing and building supply chains from farms to plates.

FFAR Fellows Program 2024 Cohort 

Year Awarded  2024

Location   Raleigh, NC

Matching Funders   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.

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.

Determinants of Persistent Cover Crop Adoption and Dis-Adoption to Inform More Effective Farmer Incentives for Durable Adoption 

Year Awarded  2024

FFAR award amount   $138,888

Total award amount   $277,777

Location   Arlington, VA

Program   AgMission

Matching Funders   The Nature Conservancy

Grantee Institution   The Nature Conservancy

This AgMission grant is evaluating cover crop adoption and identifying the factors leading to their successful, long-term use in the Midwestern United States.