Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Reinvestment

RIPE: Harnessing the Sun to Help Feed the World

Generating Agroecosystems Solutions
RIPE: Harnessing the Sun to Help Feed the World

Generating Agroecosystems Solutions

Program Contact

Dr. LaKisha Odom
lodom@foundationfar.org

Dr. Steve Long

University of Illinois

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $15,000,000

Total award amount   $45,000,000

Location   Champaign, IL

Matching Funders   Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), formerly the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID).

Grantee Institution   University of Illinois

  • Agroecosystems

Cultivating Food Security Solutions by Improving Photosynthesis

While no single strategy will achieve the 50 to 70 percent increase in production needed to meet the global food demands of 2050, improving photosynthesis remains a source of untapped potential. Understanding the complex 170-step photosynthetic process is critical to streamlining crop production and improving global food sustainability.

Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is an international research project engineering crops to be more productive by improving photosynthesis, the natural process all plants use to convert sunlight into energy and yields. By equipping farmers with higher-yielding crops, researchers are increasing global food productivity.

Why this Research is Important

RIPE supports critical, ongoing research to break through stagnant yield ceilings for staple food crops like cassava, soybean, and cowpea. RIPE research is equipping farmers around the world with another tool to enhance global food security and their own livelihoods.

RIPE researchers conduct field trials   RIPE researchers conduct field trials

Details About this Research

Fifty years of photosynthesis research, with several landmark discoveries at the University of Illinois through state and federal partnerships, enabled RIPE to simulate the 170-step process of photosynthesis from the inner workings of enzymes to interactions between neighboring plants in the field. RIPE used these models to identify seven potential pipelines to improve photosynthesis and with the support of an initial $25 million, five-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, began work in 2012 to try to turn their ideas into sustainable yield increases.

The initial grant produced insights on how to boost crop yields by 20 percent through increased photosynthetic efficiency. This $45 million investment from FFAR, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office ensures we can continue to build off this critical research.

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The Latest

Insights

Our Insights highlight unique perspectives from across the food and agriculture community.

See all Insights

Advancing Ecosystem Service Markets for Sustainable Farming

LaKisha Odom & DJ May

A Place for Everyone in Agriculture

Dr. LaKisha Odom & Jocelyn Hittle

Finding a New Way to Control Weeds in Cotton.

Sarah Chu

Sarah Chu

FFAR Fellow, Texas A&M University

The “Good Soil Discount” — A Game Changer for U.S. Agriculture

Harley Cross

Harley Cross

Land Core Co-founder & Director of Strategy

Organic Ag Podcast Features Innovative Industry Topics

Kathleen Delate

Professor, Organic Agriculture Program, Iowa State University 

Building Bridges Between Academics & Farmers

Elizabeth Ellis

FFAR Fellow, Elizabeth Ellis

Manure – Waste or Resource?

Manny Sabbagh

University of Minnesota

Diversifying the Future of Venture Capital

The first cohort of the HBCU Kirchner Fellows are Bryana Pittman, Kwame Jackson and Martin Adu-Boahene who co-wrote this Insights piece to share the value of this fellowship and its potential impact.

Can Adding Carbon to the Soil Help us Manage Weeds?

Maria Gannett

2019-2022 FFAR Fellow

Taking Science Beyond the Bench: Critical Reflections for Change-Oriented Research

Krista Marshall

2019-2022 FFAR Fellow

Soil is Not Dirt

Aaron Prairie

2020-2023 FFAR Fellow

Fine-tuning photosynthesis

Dhruv Patel

2019-2022 FFAR Fellow

Can biochar help adapt agriculture to a hotter, dryer climate?

Shelby Hoglund

2018-2021 FFAR Fellow

Milkweeds: Medicine for Monarchs?

Annie Krueger

2018-2021 FFAR Fellow

The Time is RIPE for Agricultural Innovation

Sally Rockey, Ph.D.

Executive Director Emeritus

News

The latest news and updates from FFAR.

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FFAR & FoodShot Global Announce GroundBreaker Prize Winners in Water Research

FFAR & The Organic Center Invest $632,000 into the Future of Organic Farming

FFAR Grant Reduces Nitrogen Inputs, Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Grant Transforms Wastewater to Crop Fertilizer

GroundBreaker Prize to Fund Critical Water Research

FFAR Renews ESMC Partnership to Grow Ecosystem Services Market Program 

Mitigating Farm Risk Through Improved Soil Health

FFAR & OCP North America Announce Fertilizer Fellowship Awardees & 2023 Opportunities

FFAR and The Organic Center Announce $2.4 Million in Funding for Organic Outreach and Research

RIPE research proves potential for measuring root biomass throughout growing season

Producers and Researchers Agree, Scale Up of a Sustainable Biochar Industry is Critical to Meet Climate Targets, and Build Agricultural Resilience and Soil Health

FFAR and FoodShot Global Announce GroundBreaker Prize Winners

Advancing DEI in Sharing Carbon & Ecosystems Services Information

FFAR Announces $1 Million for Organic Research to Tuskegee University

FFAR & The Organic Center Advance Organic Agriculture

RIPE Researchers Report Faster Screening of Photoprotection in Crops

RIPE Researchers Prove Bioengineering Better Photosynthesis Increases Yields in Food Crops for the First Time

RIPE Shows Potential for Improved Water-Use Efficiency in Field-Grown Plants

UC Davis Receives FFAR Grant to Help Improve Vineyard Soil Health

FFAR and OFRF Announce Six Organic Farming Research Project Awardees

Breakthroughs

Tools, technologies and strategies from the research we fund.

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New Study Shows AI & Supercomputing Can Quantify Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Individual Farms

Breakthrough for FFAR Grant Quantifies Organic Carbon to Improve Agricultural Productivity

Building Collaborations for Technology-Driven Solutions in Agriculture

Breakthrough for Open Technology Ecosystem for Agricultural Management (OpenTEAM)

Documenting Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing’s Benefits

Breakthrough for Quantifying the Advantages of Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing in the U.S. Southeast & Northern Great Plains

RIPE Researchers Prove Bioengineering Better Photosynthesis Increases Yields in Food Crops for the First Time

Breakthrough for Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Reinvestment

ID: OPP1172157

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