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Creating Cutting-Edge Ag Tech

Dee Shore

Man holds up a tomato plant as he speaks to a group outside.

Nov 11, 2025

On the Backroads, Again

Researchers from five NC State colleges joined the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative’s 2025 Backroad Tour, learning more about Western North Carolina agriculture and considering ways their expertise can help solve farm problems. 
Group of students standing on a staircase

Nov 1, 2025

Students Win 2025-26 Funding from the N.C. PSI

With donor funding, the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative is supporting eight graduate students with research addressing a range of agricultural and environmental challenges. 
Man outside

Oct 30, 2025

Suchoff to Lead N.C. PSI’s Extension Outreach and Engagement Platform

David Suchoff will build ties to agriculture statewide to ensure that N.C. PSI delivers practical solutions for North Carolina growers. He succeeds Rachel Vann. 
Two people holding trays of seedlings in a lighted indoor space

Aug 13, 2025

Seed2Grow Spotlight: Rooted-in-tech’s Ricardo Hernandez

Building on a decade of research into creating conditions ideal for plant growth, an NC State horticultural scientist has launched an ag tech startup to deliver high-quality seedlings tailored to farmers’ and gardeners’ needs. 
Cameras are mounted to a beam that's attached to the top of a small tractor

Aug 5, 2025

Researchers Pursue Automated Staking for Ag Labor Savings

Amid agricultural labor shortages, a university horticultural scientist is working with the N.C. PSI’s Makerspace to automate a labor-intensive process vital for tomato production. 
Student discussing poster

May 20, 2025

Institute Cultivates Tomorrow’s Food and Ag Leaders

At the North Carolina Youth Institute, teens gain research and communications skills to last a lifetime as they grapple with global food, agriculture and sustainability problems. 
Suhanee Anand and Olivia McCormack

Mar 15, 2025

The Heart of the N.C. PSI: Suhanee Anand and Olivia McCormack

Through N.C. PSI internships, two NC State undergraduates not only gain skills to prepare them for plant sciences careers, they also inspire a next generation to follow suit. 
Apple tree in orchard

Feb 12, 2025

N.C. PSI Seeds Project to Improve Apple Production

An interdisciplinary North Carolina State University team has kicked off new research exploring whether imaging technologies paired with artificial intelligence might prove useful for apple farmers. Seed funding for the… 

Nov 30, 2024

Robots + Drones + AI = Hardier Tomatoes?

Each year, plant diseases take a bite out of agricultural yields and profits, causing estimated global agricultural losses of $30 billion to $50 billion. At NC State University, experts in optical… 
Three people making a presentation in front of a poster that says "Hackathon"

Oct 24, 2024

Creating Cutting-Edge Ag Tech

Nearly 50 NC State University undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars spent a fall weekend competing in the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative’s fourth annual Hackathon, taking on real-world agricultural technology…