PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (July 31, 2024) – Peter Ampim, Ph.D., has been awarded $600,000 in grant funding by the USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Ampim is an Associate Professor in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources at Department of Agriculture at Prairie View A&M University. His research focuses on sustainable and climate-smart crop production, including organic approaches, specialty and bioenergy crops, and controlled environment agriculture.
Eric Obeng, Ph.D., Research Specialist PVAMU CAFNR, Sakiko Okumoto, Ph.D. (Associate Professor), Nithya Rajan, Ph.D. (Professor) and William Rooney, Ph.D. (Regents Professor) in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University, College Station will serve as Co-Principal Investigators for this project. Part of the preliminary data used to strengthen the proposal was generated using Panther Research and Innovation for Scholarly Excellence (PRISE) funding awarded to Drs. Ampim and Okummoto in 2022.
The project aims to harness biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) as a natural solution to reduce nitrogen losses in cropping systems, all without requiring changes to current farming practices or additional costs. It’s not just about improving agriculture; it’s also about providing valuable research opportunities for students. They’ll gain hands-on experience in cutting-edge plant breeding and agronomy techniques, while also developing crucial professional skills.
The ultimate goal? Developing climate-smart sorghum hybrids that farmers can readily adopt. Alongside this, the project will train six undergraduate and three graduate students, plus a postdoc. We plan to publish our findings in respected scientific journals, contributing to the field of BNI research and building lasting capacity in this important area.
By Joe McGinty