E-NEWSLETTER / SPECIAL EDITION
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 10
THE TALKING POINT
BIOGRAPHY
A Global Priority
Education and Research in Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources
By Sukant Misra
Sukant Misra is Associate Dean for
Research in Texas Tech University’s
College of Agricultural Sciences and
Natural Resources. He’s served the
university in various faculty and
administrative capacities since his initial
employment as a faculty member in the
Department of Agricultural and Applied
Economics in 1993. His bachelor and
master’s degrees in analytical and
applied economics are from Utkal
University, India. His doctorate in
agricultural economics is from
Mississippi State University.
NOTED
CASNR is a leader in teaching/
learning, research, and engagement
programs. CASNR activities and
programs have steadily expanded
during the past decade.
ABOUT THE COLLEGE
 1,437 undergraduates
 348 graduate students
 75 tenured/tenure-track faculty
 $35 million total endowment
 15 endowed professorships and
chairs
 $1.7 million in scholarship awards
 38 percent of students receiving
scholarships
 Over $14 million in research grants
 84 nat’l championship teams
UPDATE
Strategic Vision
CASNR continues to work toward
becoming a national leader in
teaching/learning, research, and
engagement programs. It is currently
operating under the Strategic Plan for
the 2006-2010 time-period; with
periodic revision of goals, objective,
and strategies as deemed necessary by
Here’s some food for thought: In the next four decades experts are predicting that the world’s
population is likely to grow by 50 percent from 6 billion to 9 billion. That huge growth, along
with a rising standard of living across the globe, leads inevitably to a forecast that we’ll have to
double food production. But that increase is going to have to take place on the same or less
land using the same or less water and energy.
And that’s not all. Food production will need to be safe and environmentally responsible as
well. Sounds like an insurmountable challenge? It is not. Remember that American agriculture
has seen dramatic growth during the last 100 years. In 1900, 38 percent of United States
workers were employed in production agriculture and in 1940 each American farmer produced
only enough to feed 19 people. In 2000, less than 2 percent of United States workers were
employed in production agriculture and each farmer produced enough to feed 139 people.
Strong Academic Tradition. Texas is, unequivocally, a leader in our nation’s agriculture,
contributing more than $100 billion to the state’s economy each year. In Texas, almost 80
percent of the total land area is in some type of agricultural production, and Texas is the
nation’s leader in sales of cotton, cattle and calves, sheep and wool, goats and mohair and
horses. The agriculture industry also supports one in seven Texas jobs.
But most people simply don’t realize there’s a reason why we Texans spend less than 10
percent of our disposable income on food, which is less than anywhere else in the world. (By
comparison, the Chinese spend 34 percent of their disposable income on food.) One key factor
for that disparity is the state’s strong academic tradition for training top-flight agricultural and
natural resources scientists and professionals. These professionals help producers to be
efficient, thus benefiting consumers in the pocketbook.
Agriculture Enrollments Up. Just where does Texas Tech’s College of Agricultural Sciences and
Natural Resources, CASNR for short, rank among the nation’s leading agriculture universities?
It’s 30th in terms of size with the second largest undergraduate student enrollment in the
country for non-land grant agricultural and natural resources programs. It offers 12 bachelors,
15 masters and seven doctoral programs. CASNR generated $12.8 million in sponsored research
funding in 2010 with only about 75 faculty, making it the largest non-land grant agricultural and
natural resources research program in the United States. Faculty are involved in cutting-edge
research in a variety of areas including sustainable agriculture; biotechnology; genomics; food
safety, security and quality; natural resources management and planning; agricultural policy
analysis; and technology transfer.
As our state’s urban population grows and our priorities broaden to include aerospace, defense,
and information and computer technology, some mistakenly believe demand for agriculture
education will decline. Not so. Nationwide, the USDA estimates that enrollment in agriculture
degree programs increased by 22 percent between 2005 and 2008, from 58,300 students to
nearly 71,000. In CASNR, enrollment has increased by 20 percent as well between 2005 and
2009.
New Career Opportunities. So what’s the big draw to agriculture? In a word: Jobs. Agriculture
schools are now attracting students from rural as well as urban areas, with and without
traditional farming background. Non-traditional students from urban areas are now drawn to
agriculture studies because they know that modern agriculture has become a high-tech sector,
and its level of innovation is second only to aviation and space technology.
Whether it’s increasing productivity for growing food, or conservation of natural resources, or
discovering new and better products through genomics and biotechnology, career
the CASNR Strategic Planning and
Visioning Committee.
Longer-term goals for CASNR include
2,150 total student enrollment, $20
Million research grants per year and
$80 Million in endowment by 2020.
opportunities for agriculture professionals often exceed the number of qualified graduates
currently in the pipeline. We anticipate that, in addition to serving in roles as industry and
university researchers, CASNR students will also take on larger leadership roles in government
and industry, where professionals with agricultural knowledge will be needed to address
science, policy and regulatory questions.
Complex Challenges Ahead. Over the years, Texas Tech and other major agricultural
universities have helped to create a society where less than 2 percent of our citizens produce
the food required to keep the remaining 98 percent at the dinner table. We’re all touched by
agriculture. And this will be no less true in the next century than it has been throughout the
past 100 years. During the next century, however, the agriculture industry will seek solutions to
a multitude of complex challenges led by food security. This daunting task is further
complicated by shrinking water resources, environmental concerns, and global
interdependence.
According to some, a second "Green Revolution" is essential to attain food security through
sustainable agricultural development based on environmentally sound management of natural
resources. Research and technology development are the means to this end. Daunting task?
Yes. Insurmountable? No. The agriculture industry has done it before and is very capable of
doing it again, but it will be possible if and only if the public, academic institutions and
governments give renewed attention to agricultural development and to strengthening the
national agricultural research systems. Now that’s some food for thought at anybody’s table.
Administrative Council
DR. JOHN BURNS
Dean
john.burns@ttu.edu
DR. STEVE FRAZE
Agricultural Education
& Communications
steven.fraze@ttu.edu
DR. NORMAN HOPPER
Executive Associate Dean
for Academic & Student Programs
n.hopper@ttu.edu
DR. KEVIN POND
Animal & Food Sciences
kevin.pond@ttu.edu
DR. ALON KVASHNY
Landscape Architecture
alon.kvashny@ttu.edu
DR. SUKANT MISRA
Associate Dean for Research
sukant.misra@ttu.edu
DR. EDUARDO SEGARRA
Agricultural & Applied Economics
eduardo.segarra@ttu.edu
DR. PHILIP GIPSON
Natural Resources Management
philip.gipson@ttu.edu
College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
PO Box 42123
Lubbock, Texas 79409-2123
806.742.2808 phone
806.742.2836 fax
norman.martin@ttu.edu
DR. THOMAS THOMPSON
Plant & Soil Science
thomas.thompson@ttu.edu
DR. CINDY AKERS
Student Services Center
cindy.akers@ttu.edu
JANE PIERCY
Development & Alumni Relations
jane.piercy@ttu.edu
NORMAN MARTIN
Marketing & Communications
norman.martin@ttu.edu