Innovation in Action

In West Texas, farmers and ranchers need impactful and innovative solutions for the daily challenges they face. From water conservation, ranch management and the use of harvest waste, there is a need for timely and relevant research. The Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources is focused on identifying more effective practices and tools for producers in the South Plains and beyond.

Noureddine Abidi, Ph.D., Davis College associate dean for research at Davis College, said the college’s research agenda emphasizes practical, implementable solutions rather than purely theoretical work. With more than 100 years of commitment to the West Texas region, Abidi said Davis College researchers strive to find solutions to help agriculturists who call this region home.

“Research at Davis College is designed around pressing challenges faced by producers, communities, and ecosystems — particularly in water-limited and climate-stressed regions like the Texas High Plains,” he said.

Every Drop Counts

Every three to four years, it is predicted by the Texas Water Resource Institute that drought and water crisis will hit the West Texas region. Each drought leaves the Ogallala Aquifer, the region’s main source of water, increasingly depleted. These stresses on the aquifer are why, Krishna Jagadish, Ph.D., Thornton distinguished chair of Plant and Soil Science and coordinator for the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation, has focused on research to meet the needs of producers.

Since coming to Davis College in March 2022, Jagadish has been working on water sensors to help producers gauge their water usage and what is being used and wasted on their farm. It was important to make this accessible and low-budget for producers, so there could actually be a clear. Trying to create this benefit, however, trying to create this benefit requires a lot of hands-on work when it comes to in-the-field labor and talking to producers to get feedback. To Jagadish, this is the best part.

“Every producer does something differently, and every producer has different resources accessible for them. It might be very different to a farm down the road,” Jagadish said.

Jagadish’s path to Texas Tech is ultimately what led him into water conservation efforts here in West Texas. One of his previous careers was working on the heat and drought program in the Philippines, so concerns about water have always been at the forefront of his research. There was something greater for him that was missing in his previous research: the impact. He said he was looking for a way to perform research that would actually impact the world around him and help the producers in his area.

The outreach and producer connections at Texas Tech led to real impact and solution for the producers Jagadish works with. He said it was important to him that he would be able to impact the lives of producers and not just be another research paper. This is where the TAWC comes into play and how his research connects back to impact. The TAWC works to educate producers and water conservation efforts and technologies, the same technologies that Jagadish is working to create and test.

“So, there's impact in terms of reducing the water content,” Jagadish said. “They’re [producers] conserving a lot more water because they’re making more efficient decisions at the start to the end of the season.”

“Research at Davis College is designed around pressing challenges faced by producers, communities, and ecosystems — particularly in water-limited and climate-stressed regions like the Texas High Plains.”

Jagadish’s emphasis on outreach and impact is tied to his connection to the agricultural community of West Texas and the consideration for future generations. The motivation for his work goes beyond the outcome of his research, but the people and the future generations that will eventually inherit this region. For him, it is a personal mission to leave it better than before, with censors that gauge moisture levels leading to further water conservation.

“Anything that you're going to destroy, it's obvious that the impact that it might have is not just on the current, but the future generation,” Jagadish said.

Research for Regional Ranchers

In West Texas, the ranching industry, Whitney Crossland, Ph.D., associate professor for the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, is focused on addressing those issues through her research at Texas Tech.

“That's my whole goal as a researcher,” Crossland said, “Regionally relevant research.”

Crossland is currently working on sustainable ranch management tactics, specifically, evaluating different feeding patterns for cattle to identify the best outcome for livestock performance. Texas Tech’s New Deal Farm allows for field-based research that can produce outcomes for ranchers.

Research in the field is not the only hat Crossland wears throughout the week. Davis College puts a great emphasis on not only research but education, meaning the faculty are to participate in both. Crossland has noticed the influx of non-traditional students, meaning little to no agricultural background, entering this degree plan. This has made Crossland enhance her teaching with more foundational knowledge in livestock alongside the regional context.

This is where the bridge between research and teaching creates opportunity not just for Crossland, but her students and local ranchers. Currently, Crossland has one of her undergraduate students going and getting hands-on experience interviewing local ranchers about sand crack issues in cattle.

Crossland has done the research to know that sand cracks are problem ranchers are currently fighting so creating research-based solutions through her students help with their education and the ranchers cattle management. Students can find that spark for research and a drive to help with the challenges of ranching in the West Texas region.

Crossland enters every project with the same goal: helping the land and people she has grown so fond of. Her research is heavily rooted in helping West Texas ranchers find solutions that are sustainable and practical in the realm of ranch management. Through the support of Davis College, its outreach and research facilities, the impact of her innovative research will continue to grow.

“I'm looking for regional because this is the place I love. These are the people I love,” Crossland said.

From Cotton Fields to Food Packaging

Texas is the top producer of cotton in the United States. One aspect of this that goes overlooked is the waste. Nestled in the top cotton-producing region in the United States, Davis College, researchers are not only working to boost sustainable production practices, but they are also investigating how by-products from the cotton industry can be used. What was once discarded in fields after harvest could now appear at grocery stores in the form of biodegradable food packaging.

Kalavathy Rajan, Ph.D., assistant professor for the Department of Plant and Soil Science, is working on making that a reality. Through research at the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute, she is focused on breaking down cotton by-products and pulling elements that can be transformed into this plant fiber-based plastic.

“I'm a microplastic warrior trying to reduce the amount of plastic that goes into the environment by moving towards plant-like residues and fiber,” Rajan said.

FBRI is a research staple in the West Texas area, focused on cotton breeds and cotton quality testing, but it also provides space for individual research. This facility gives faculty and students at Texas Tech a unique opportunity to work in a lab and field setting. Rajan’s research connects agriculture, sustainability and everyday life through biodegradable plant-based plastics. 

Leading The Change

Davis College's approach to research is designed to translate to real-world applications.

“This ensures that what we do at Davis College is translated into measurable outcomes to benefit communities, producers and agricultural ecosystems,” Abidi said.

Although these projects take different approaches, Abidi said they all share the same motive, which is to impact West Texas producers and beyond.

“It is important that we engage with agriculturists early and often to identify pressing challenges, and develop research projects and questions that can lead to tangible outcomes to immediately benefit society,” Abidi said.