Pradeep Kumar, a doctoral student within Davis College’s Department of Plant & Soil Science, has been selected as a Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) Fellow, which offers opportunities to further advance his impactful plant breeding research.
“The FFAR Fellows program is a selective program through the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research meant to encourage interdisciplinary research and break down the silos between institutions and research disciplines” said Department of Plant & Soil Science Chair Glen Ritchie.
“Pradeep exemplifies this interdisciplinary spirit, working closely with scientists from both the USDA Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit and the Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Department of Plant & Soil Science at Texas Tech to develop resilient plants for the future,” he said.
Created in 2018, the FFAR Fellows Program is a three-year program that provides doctoral students studying food and agriculture sciences with training, professional development, and opportunities to engage with industry and government leaders. Kumar is one of just 30 fellows in this year’s cohort.
The FFAR program’s mission is to shape the future of agriculture and food science by providing professional development opportunities that equip scholars with the skills needed for a successful transition into the workforce. “The FFAR provides a rare platform to build leadership skills while working alongside mentors from both academia and industry,” Kumar said.
Kumar’s industry sponsor for the FFAR fellowship is the National Sorghum Producers, a producer-funded organization dedicated to improving the sorghum industry through research, promotion and education. While Kumar was recently selected as a fellow, he is already actively contributing to tackling industry challenges through his sorghum breeding and genetics research.
Kumar’s research in being conducted under the guidance of Chad Hayes, a Department of Plant & Soil Science adjunct faculty member and a research sorghum geneticist at the USDA-ARS Cropping Systems Research Laboratory in Lubbock and Yinping Jiao, an assistant professor of crop population genomics within Texas Tech’s Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance. Specifically, Kumar’s research is focused on genomic and phenomics-based breeding for improving plant architecture, drought tolerance, and yield potential in sorghum.
Kumar already had some experience at the national level this year, having participated in a Congressional Visit Day 2025 in Washington, D.C. The event organized by the Agronomy, Crop Science & Soil Science Society of America (ASA CSSA SSSA), brought together students, researchers and professionals from across the country to engage directly with policymakers. He was one of only two student representatives selected by the National Association of Plant Breeders to take part in the event.
CONTACT: Glen Ritchie, Department Chair, Department of Plant & Soil Science, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-4325 or glen.ritchie@ttu.edu
0618NM25 / PHOTO: Pradeep Kumar (L) and Chad Hayes