Most eleven-year-olds ride bikes. But Shiran Ben-Zeev was different. At eleven, he was driving a tractor through his family’s wheat fields and almond orchards. It was only natural that he’d choose to study plant sciences at Hebrew University. During his undergraduate studies, he undertook a research project in Prof. Yehoshua (Shuki) Saranga’s lab. One day, Shiran was summoned to take a look at a fellow student’s teff field – one agronomist helping another.
This field trip was the first step in what has become an eight-year journey for Shiran. Teff, a native Ethiopian grain, was brimming with promise: a nutritious crop that could grow through the hot, dry Israeli summer. Shiran was hooked. He began a master’s degree at the Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, working under the guidance of Prof. Saranga, studying 400+ varieties of teff seeds that had been sitting in a vault since the 1970s. Planting a subset of the seeds in study fields in different climates, he identified the varieties’ core traits and how the environment affected their growth.
Yet soon a problem arose. For no apparent reason, some teff plants permanently bend over. Lodging, as it is known, causes dampness and mold, reduces growth, or simply places the seeds out of reach for mechanical harvesting. Ready to tackle this challenge, Shiran transferred to the direct PhD track.
Shiran is employing a three-pronged approach: identifying the ideal depth and density for planting seeds, studying teff’s genome, and comparing how root size and structure affect lodging.
Only a small number of researchers worldwide study teff, and Shiran’s work has overturned a number of assumptions. He surveyed an unprecedented number of varieties, developed best practices for planting, and has shown that teff has a potential yield twofold higher than previously thought.
In his spare time, Shiran hosts the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture’s podcast, HaHakulta, and looks forward to his postdoctoral appointment at the US-Israel Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD).
“I greatly enjoy the environment at the Smith Faculty. Many of the professors come from a farming background themselves – it feels like peer-to-peer learning. We all want to improve Israeli agriculture.”
Photograph by Neta Levinson