Ole Miss biologists study ways to boost food production sustainably

Sixue Chen, chair and professor in the University of Mississippi Department of Biology, is studying how to grow more food with less water, land and reliable weather at Ole Miss in Oxford. In Lafayette County, the same pressures squeezing growers across Mississippi are shaping the state’s farm economy, from soybeans to the broader row-crop base.

What the Ole Miss team is studying

Chen worked with Hajra Maqsood and student researchers on a review in *Food and Energy Security* that pulls together the most practical tools for making agriculture more resilient. The review looks at cultured meat, precision fermentation, hydroponics, aeroponics, aquaponics, gene editing, photosynthesis engineering, carbon-sequestering crops, and AI-driven precision agriculture.

The pressure behind the work is straightforward. The global population is projected to reach about 9.8 billion by 2050, and feeding that many people will require roughly a 50% increase in food production. At the same time, agriculture is already dealing with erratic rainfall, extreme weather, land degradation and freshwater scarcity, problems that make it harder to keep yields steady even before population growth adds another layer of demand.

Why Mississippi growers should pay attention

Those global numbers land differently in Mississippi when you look at the state’s own farm conditions. Mississippi State University Extension Service estimated the state had received only about half its normal rainfall in 2026 and was on track for the 10th driest year in state history at that point.

Mississippi’s 2025 agricultural value was estimated at $9.51 billion, with poultry, forestry and row crops leading the sector. Row-crop production was estimated at $2.51 billion, down about 9% from 2024. Soybeans alone were estimated at 2.05 million acres in 2025, making them Mississippi’s top row crop and the state’s second-largest agricultural commodity behind poultry.

That is where the Ole Miss research becomes practical for Lafayette County. If a lab can help a soybean plant use less water during drought stress, or help a grower produce greens in a controlled system with less land and less water, the benefits are not limited to theory. They touch yield stability, farm planning, input costs and the kinds of technology businesses that could grow around Oxford and the surrounding region.

The water-saving idea at the center of the science

One of the most useful pieces of the review is its attention to crassulacean acid metabolism, or CAM, a water-saving photosynthetic strategy found in desert plants such as cacti and pineapples. Chen’s lab has been studying how traits from drought-resistant plants could be transferred into crops like soybeans, rice and wheat so they conserve more water under stress.

In Mississippi, weather volatility compounds stress on crops that have to perform across changing conditions. If plant biology can be tuned to tolerate stress better, the result could be fewer losses during dry spells and a better chance of holding yields when rainfall comes late or unevenly.

Chen’s university profile lists single-cell proteomics and mass spectrometry as key tools in his lab and credits his work with more than 310 publications. Those tools let researchers see how individual cells react when plants are under pressure, which can sharpen the search for traits that keep crops alive and productive when conditions worsen.

Where commercialization could go next

The most immediate commercial path in Mississippi is likely to come from technologies that reduce risk for growers rather than replace farming altogether. Gene editing and photosynthesis engineering could help develop crops that use water more efficiently. AI and automation could help farmers make faster decisions about planting, irrigation and stress. Soilless systems such as hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics could support year-round production closer to population centers, with less dependence on soil quality and weather.

That mix also leaves room for ag-tech business development. A strong commercialization pathway could include software that helps farmers track moisture and stress, controlled-environment systems for vegetables and specialty crops, and breeding or seed-tech ventures built around drought tolerance and water efficiency. For a university with an R1 research profile and a biology department that works across genes and ecosystems, the research base is already in place to support that kind of transition from lab finding to farm tool.

Food access gives the research another local reason to matter

The human cost of food stress is visible in Mississippi’s hunger numbers. Feeding America estimated that Mississippi’s child food insecurity rate was 23% in 2023, with 155,190 food-insecure children and an annual food budget shortfall of $364.9 million. Its earlier estimate put the state’s overall food insecurity rate at 16.2% in 2020.

The same climate pressures that threaten crop yields also affect food prices, supply reliability and household budgets. A system that can keep more food in production with less water, less land or better stress resistance is relevant both to producers in Lafayette County and to families trying to stretch grocery dollars.