NMSU awarded collaborative NSF grant to aid agriculture in tribal communities

Research Director for New Mexico State University’s Agricultural Science Center at Farmington Kevin Lombard is a co-principal investigator on a collaborative project focused on developing and accessing modern controlled environment agricultural practices to assist tribal communities. (NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)

Source: NMSU News Release
DATE: Aug. 13, 2024
WRITER: Taeya M. Padilla, 575-646-3221, taeyap@nmsu.edu

New Mexico State University is a collaborator in a research team led by the University of New Mexico on a project funded by the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Collaborations, or EPSCoR.

NMSU’s role in this project is for four years with a total project budget of $748,944. The project, “Harnessing Controlled Environment Agriculture to Secure Sustainability and Economic Growth,” is focused on developing and accessing modern controlled environment agricultural practices to assist tribal communities with securing food production, develop a climate-smart workforce and stimulate economic growth. Santa Fe Community College, University of Wyoming and South Dakota State University are also partners on the project, which was awarded through the NSF Research Infrastructure Improvement-Focused EPSCoR Collaborations Program.

“NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Farmington just completed an Indigenous Farmers Needs Assessment in Northwest New Mexico,” said Kevin Lombard, co-principal investigator for the project and research director for the Agricultural Science Center at Farmington. “Results indicated that while controlled environment agriculture is a new concept and few individuals currently engage in any form of CEA, interest in learning more about CEA agriculture was high and that further research and outreach are warranted. The impact of this project would be to increase food sovereignty and community resilience, especially within tribal communities in the face of climate change.”

The goal for the project is to determine the best method for securing Controlled Environment Agriculture food production and quantify the socioeconomic impacts of CEA on several tribal communities across New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming, including the Navajo Nation. This project aims to characterize how the environment, plants and microbes interact in hydroponic systems and affect crop yield and nutritional quality; identify environmental, nutritional and socioeconomic drivers and impacts of CEA on tribal communities; and empower tribal communities through interdisciplinary training aimed at long-term retention of the CEA workforce.

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