Proximal sensing technologies
Leading-edge innovations in plant breeding technology
The proximal sensing technologies program at Weslaco conducts plant breeding for nutrition, food products, and biotic and abiotic stresses. Uniquely, we use high throughput remote sensing, biochemical, physiological, and genetic based methods in our breeding efforts.
Our plant varieties of focus include wheat, sorghum, cowpea, cassava and high biomass energy crops.
Program faculty and staff
Dirk Hays, Ph.D.
Professor, Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Dirk Hays, Ph.D., has 34 years of experience in crop improvement with bachelor’s and doctorate degrees in biochemistry from Texas A&M University. He holds a doctorate in plant physiology from the University of Calgary. He held Postdoctoral positions with USDA-ARS before being hired as a Professor in Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University in 2002. His $32 million in research funding has focused on physiological crop breeding for high value, heat, and drought tolerant crops for Texas. Most recently, he founded Crop Phenomics LLC which offers root, tuber, and soil carbon monitoring, as well as, utility mapping, and irrigation leak detection technologies to breeders, producers, ranchers, cities, irrigation districts, and the forestry and petroleum industry. He has been funded by Fulbright, NSF, DOE, USDA, DOT, USAID, McKnight and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations, Texas Producer Boards, and Rohm Haas, Syngenta, Bayer and Exxon Mobil. He chairs(ed) 3 current and 36 former MS and PhD students who are professors and leaders at pier universities, multi-national corporations, and CGIAR Centers.
