Growing up in a semi-rural area of western Massachusetts, Stephanie Slinski used to help her grandfather grow vegetables that the family would eat and sell at a roadside farmstand. 

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“That experience of growing our own food fundamentally shaped my perspective and eventually led me to study plant science and plant pathology,” said Slinski, associate director, applied research and development of the University of Arizona Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture. “When I was an undergraduate, working in a plant disease diagnostic lab helped me discover how much I enjoy the hands-on work of helping farmers address and solve their critical challenges.”

Thanks to a $3 million Regents’ Grant from the Arizona Board of Regents, Slinski will use her knowledge and passion for agriculture to lead a statewide effort to address the challenges posed by farming in arid lands. The Arizona Hub for Agriculture Innovation, or AHAI, will unite experts from the U of A, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University to transform agricultural research into scalable, industry-ready solutions for farmers and ranchers.

Like Slinski, Tyler Smith developed his love of farming with hands-on experience. As a child growing up on his family’s farm in Maricopa, Arizona, Smith, who is a fourth-generation Arizonan in agriculture, was raised among the cotton and wheat fields that shaped his early connection to farming.  Smith, senior director of the ASU Luminosity Lab and lead ASU collaborator in the AHAI, said the tri-university partnership is essential to accomplishing the organization’s mission.

“Each of the universities has a large sector of skill sets and disciplines in research areas, which can come together to solve some of these complex challenges,” Smith said.

Centered in Yuma, the state’s center for year-round agriculture, which supplies as much as 90% of America’s leafy greens during winter months, the AHAI will align research, industry partnerships and state priorities to support the long-term resilience of Arizona agriculture in a water-scarce environment.

Tilling the field for success

The top priorities of AHAI are aligning research with real-world needs, accelerating technology in precision agriculture, soil health, crop innovation and developing the next generation of farmers, agriculture technologists, scientists and agricultural business leaders for Arizona’s $30 billion agriculture industry.

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Since its founding in 1885, the U of A has had deep ties to agricultural research and has positioned itself as a global leader in pioneering climate-smart farming, water conversation, indigenous crop resilience and sustainable soil health.

“The University of Arizona is shaping the future of agriculture in myriad ways, including advancing technologies that drive progress and improving the world-class efficiency of Yuma’s arid-land agricultural practices. What we do will serve as models for other arid regions around the world,” said Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, senior vice president for research and partnerships at the U of A. “The Arizona Hub for Agriculture Innovation is a shining example of our land-grant mission in action. We are honored to lead this ABOR-funded initiative with our partners at ASU and NAU.”

The Arizona Department of Agriculture will partner with researchers to position Arizona as a national model for water-smart, economically viable agriculture in arid regions worldwide. The department will align efforts with priorities from other state agencies, including State Land, Water Resources, Environmental Quality and the Commerce Authority. 

Research areas will focus on critical areas that are central to the state’s agricultural sustainability: soil health improvement, climate resilience in crops, precision production efficiency and food safety solutions.

“Our challenge is to be able to continue to produce more food in the future for a larger population, while utilizing less water per unit of mass food production than we have in the past,” said Jon Chorover, interim associate dean for research at the U of A College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences and a co-PI of the AHAI project.

A foundation of AHAI’s research will be the Ag Innovation Lab, which will form interdisciplinary teams to translate problem statements into funded applied research projects for precision agriculture.

Another component will be an annual Ag Innovation Summit, which will bring together stakeholders, thought leaders and students to share successes, identify research needs and prioritize the most pressing needs.

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Slinski is excited to – borrowing farming terminology – get her hands dirty with the efforts of growing the seeds of AHAI into an impressive yield.

“It’s exciting to explore big ideas and then translate that knowledge into practical, real-world solutions,” Slinski said. “I particularly enjoy connecting individuals who have complementary expertise, which often sparks exciting new collaborations. I see the work with AHAI as an opportunity to bring this all to a much broader, more impactful scale.”

Slinski says the partnership will strengthen bonds not only between the three universities, but from academia to the field. She envisions a system in which researchers from the three state universities and have  access to  industry stakeholders, working together to identify problems, develop comprehensive solutions, then implement new tools and practices to help improve agricultural efficiency.

“It’s all about getting that expertise and developing a mechanism for working with our agricultural stakeholders,” Slinski said. “We can prioritize the needs of agriculture. We want to be a conduit between the field and the university, engaging more of those expertises on campuses.”

Regents’ Grants are supported by the Technology and Research Initiative Fund, which is meant to make real-world impact through translatable research and practical solutions that yield tangible benefits for state.

“I think what’s wonderful about this new grant and hub is that it leveraged the expertise of all three state universities, with a particular focus on the depth and breadth of agricultural expertise at the U of A, to address some of the grand challenges that are facing arid and non-arid agriculture throughout the state,” Chorover said. “We’re grateful for the partnerships with Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University in this statewide initiative. We’re looking forward to building bridges between our universities.”