TSUAg and UTIA collaborate to enhance Tennessee Agriculture and Forestry

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee State University College of Agriculture (TSUAg) and the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) have launched a joint seed funding program to support collaborative research projects focused on some of agriculture’s most pressing challenges.

Researchers and administrators from both Tennessee State University College of Agriculture and the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture gathered in person in 2025 to discuss potential collaborations to enhance the state’s agricultural and foresty interests. Photo courtesy TSUAg.

The inaugural initiative brings together the strengths of Tennessee’s land-grant institutions to encourage innovative, interdisciplinary research led by teams from both universities.

Through a combined investment of $300,000 from UT AgResearch; the UT Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development; and Tennessee State University College of Agriculture, six joint seed grants were selected for funding in the program’s first round. Each project received $50,000 and is co-led by faculty from TSUAg and UTIA.

“This initiative represents a strong investment in the future of agricultural research in Tennessee,” said Chandra Reddy, dean of the Tennessee State University College of Agriculture. “By bringing together the expertise of TSUAg and UTIA researchers, we are creating new opportunities to develop solutions that benefit producers, communities and the broader agricultural sector.”

The program supports collaborative work in areas such as precision agriculture, biotechnology and bioinformatics, food security, One Health, and biomass production and markets. The studies involve nursery and beef production, soil health, forest management and more.

One project seeks to increase the nutritional and economic values of the perennial consumer favorite, tomatoes. Another involves the refining of Spirulina, a nutrient-dense blue-green algae used as a food supplement.

The funded efforts include:

• Sustainable Biorefinery for Co-Extraction of Phycocyanin and Protein from Spirulina for Food Security, a study led by Brahmaiah Pendyala (TSUAg) and Vermont Dia (UTIA).
• A Low-Cost Microclimate Monitoring Platform for Smart Agriculture with Case Studies in Nursery and Beef Production, which is led by Chenchen Kang (TSUAg) and Yanqiu Yang (UTIA).
• Development of Carbon Dot (CD)-DNA Delivery Systems to Improve Chloroplast Genetic Engineering in Staple Crops, led byAlessandro Occhialini (UTIA) and Ali Taheri (TSUAg).
• Metabolic Engineering of Tomatoes Via Genome Editing to Enhance Nutrients and Economic Values, with several collaborators including Suping Zhou (TSUAg), Sonali Roy (TSUAg), and Feng Chen (UTIA).
• Reducing Barriers of Remotely Sensed Technologies for Landowner Forest Management Decisions is being led by Tyler Gifford (UTIA) and Bharat Pokharel (TSUAg).
• Integrating Agroforestry and Soil Health Monitoring Within a One Health Framework is a study being conducted by Sougata Bardhan (TSUAg) and Sindhu Jagadamma (UTIA).

Hongwei Xin, dean of UT AgResearch, said the seed funding program is expected to strengthen existing partnerships and help position faculty teams for long-term success.

“Our expectation is that this seed funding will boost our ongoing collaborations and lead to successful pursuit of larger external competitive grants in the foreseeable future,” Xin said.

The initiative was coordinated through the efforts of TSUAg Associate Dean of Research Fulya Baysal-Gurel and Timothy Rials, associate dean of UT AgResearch.

Deborah Crawford, vice chancellor for research for UT, Knoxville, said the effort reflects a shared commitment to expanding research collaboration and generating meaningful impact across Tennessee agriculture and natural resource systems.

“We are excited to join forces with our TSU colleagues to better serve Tennessee farmers and communities,” she said.

“This program leverages the complementary strengths of our two institutions in ways that can create real momentum,” said Baysal-Gurel. “We are excited to see these teams move forward with projects that are innovative, collaborative and highly relevant to the needs of agriculture today.”

As the inaugural projects move forward, TSUAg and UTIA leaders say the program marks an important step in deepening cross-institutional research partnerships and advancing discoveries that serve Tennessee and beyond.

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