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High dimensional phenomics and automation to transform cost and timeframe of early stage domestication of wild plants 

Year Awarded  2021

FFAR award amount   $999,957

Total award amount   $2,543,829

Location   St. Louis, MO

Program   Seeding Solutions

Matching Funders   The Danforth Center, Danforth Center Field Research Site at Planthaven Farms, The Land Institute, Perennial Agriculture Project and Saint Louis University

Grantee Institution   The Danforth Center

To ensure a plentiful food supply in the face of future climate-related challenges, scientists must diversify food crops by domesticating new species. Early farmers domesticated many annual plant species, those planted yearly, in part due to their quick growing cycles; however, these crops require agricultural practices that can harm the soil. Perennial crops, which live for multiple years, offer a more sustainable option. The challenge is that successfully and rapidly domesticating promising perennial crops relies on genetic screening of seeds, an expensive and time-consuming process. This grant is accelerating the development of perennial crops. The researchers are predicting breeding success based on the seedlings’ physical attributes.

FFAR Grant Speeds Domestication of Sustainable Crops 

Creating Science-Based Strategies for Gene Editing Communications 

Year Awarded  2021

FFAR award amount   $189,794

Total award amount   $760,271

Location   Ithaca, NY

Matching Funders   Cornell Alliance for Science

Grantee Institution   Cornell University

FFAR invests in a range of research technologies, including projects that use biotechnology and gene editing to make agriculture more sustainable, protect biodiversity and ensure that the world has sufficient food to feed a growing population. Through this award, the Alliance for Science, a global communications initiative, is amplifying FFAR-funded research and programs.

FFAR Grant Protects Coffee From Leaf Rust Disease 

FFAR Research Revolutionizes Hybrid Seed Production 

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.

FFAR Grant Improves Peas’ Protein Content & Quality 

FFAR and Alliance for Science Expand Gene Editing Communications 

Year Awarded  2021

FFAR award amount   $189,794

Total award amount   $760,271

Location   Ithaca, NY

Matching Funders   Cornell Alliance for Science

Grantee Institution   Cornell University

FFAR invests in a range of research technologies, including projects that use biotechnology and gene editing to make agriculture more sustainable, protect biodiversity and ensure that the world has sufficient food to feed a growing population. Through this award, the Alliance for Science, a global communications initiative, is amplifying FFAR-funded research and programs.

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.

Scaling Crops for Sustainable Water Management: Building Supply Chains 

Year Awarded  2021

FFAR award amount   $1,997,454

Total award amount   $3,997,423

Location   Minneapolis, MN

Matching Funders   Agriculture Utilization Research Institute, Cargill, Friends of the Mississippi River, Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, McKnight Foundation, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, NORI, The Land Institute, Walton Family Foundation

Grantee Institution   University of Minnesota

Summer crops such as wheat, rice, and corn can be profitable for farmers, but post-harvest farmland is unproductive for several months during the off-season. Fallow land can accumulate a variety of water-related challenges, including soil nutrient loss and erosion and precipitation runoff. However, continuous living cover crops can prevent these challenges and maintain land in the off-seasons. The University of Minnesota is developing models for sustainable supply chains that create markets for crops farmers can grow between seasons.

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