The Alfalfa Variety Team at New Mexico State University has been awarded the 2025 NMSU Intellectual Property Award presented by NMSU’s Arrowhead Center and the Office of Research, Creativity and Strategic Initiatives. The team consists of NMSU researchers from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, Agronomy Emeritus Professor Ian Ray; Plant and Environmental Sciences Ag Research Specialist Christopher Pierce; and Entomology, Plant Pathology and Weed Science Professor Soumaila Sanogo.
NMSU President Valerio Ferme presented the award at the New Mexico Bioscience Authority Networking Summit April 29 at the NMSU Golf Course clubhouse. The award recognizes NMSU faculty or staff who have developed intellectual property and demonstrated work to realize societal, industrial and commercial benefits.
“I was very pleased when the NMSU Arrowhead Center notified me that our team was selected for our diligent work in commercializing the outcomes of our alfalfa breeding and genetics research,” Ray said. “Alfalfa plays a critical role in ensuring the sustainability of U.S. and New Mexico agriculture by diversifying crop rotations, providing highly nutritious livestock feed and enhancing soil quality.”
Since the 1940s, NMSU has been a leader in advancing alfalfa drought-tolerance research. In 1994, Ray joined NMSU to lead the forage breeding program, and his research centered on decoding the genetic mechanisms of alfalfa drought tolerance.
“The Alfalfa Variety Team was chosen for the work toward commercializing three alfalfa varieties. This was an extensive effort, and it extended over a long duration after the developmental research ended because of their commitment. They are the newest license in the NMSU portfolio. They licensed all three varieties to a successful and growing seed company,” said Patricia Knighten, director of Innovation Commercialization at Arrowhead Center.
Since December 2024, the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies has approved three new alfalfa varieties, NuMex 501, NuMex 801 and NuMex 802. All three are suited for different climate zones in New Mexico and regions outside the state with similar climates. The Alfalfa Variety Team selected the varieties to maintain productivity under deficit-irrigation management. In late 2024, Mountain View Seeds was granted seed production and marketing rights to NuMex 501, NuMex 801 and NuMex 802 under the branding of Climate Ready Alfalfa.
“We developed these three varieties using advanced conventional plant breeding technology, that identified alfalfa genes influencing drought tolerance,” Ray said. “This technology, combined with selection of vigorous plants from multiple drought-stressed fields over seven years, was used in the plant breeding process to develop the new alfalfa varieties with greater drought resilience. The drought-resilience trait allows the varieties to recover from prolonged periods of drought stress while providing good yields when adequate irrigation is available.”
Alfalfa is one of the most economically important crops in the nation, and the drought-tolerant varieties will benefit the $12 billion alfalfa industry at a time when water resources continue to diminish. In New Mexico, alfalfa is often the No. 1 cash crop, valued at $224 million in 2023, and competes with pecans as the state’s top cash crop.
“The relevance of our work is extremely high given agriculture’s vulnerability to drought stress. Such new varieties can help farmers in the western U.S. conserve water and meet the livestock industry’s feed demands,” Ray said.
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CUTLINE: From left: New Mexico State University President Valerio Ferme presented the 2025 NMSU Intellectual Property Award to the Alfalfa Variety Team from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, Agronomy Emeritus Professor Ian Ray; Entomology, Plant Pathology and Weed Science Professor Soumaila Sanogo; and Plant and Environmental Sciences Ag Research Specialist Christopher Pierce; alongside College of ACES Dean Rolando Flores. (NMSU photo by Mariana Bucio-Martinez)