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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.

Developing an Extensive Database of US Groundwater Wells 

Breakthrough for Achieving Sustainable Groundwater Management Through Innovative Governance & Optimal Agricultural Water Use Under Conflicting Objectives

Entrepreneur Attributes Kirchner HBCU Fellowship to Career Success 

Kwame Terra

Kwame Terra MPH

Kirchner Fellowship HBCU 2021 Cohort

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.

FFAR and North Carolina State Announce 2024 FFAR Fellows 

Building Diversity & Inclusion in the Agriculture Technology Venture Capital Industry 

Portrait of LaKisha Odom.

LaKisha Odom, Ph.D.

Scientific Program Director Sustaining Vibrant Agroecosystems

FFAR Names Sixth Cohort of Veterinary Fellows