John Jifon

Professional Summary

John Jifon, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco. Jifon’s research is focused on environmental stress physiology of plants — the physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms and traits that confer tolerance to environmental stresses (especially to drought, radiation/temperature extremes, and nutrient imbalance). A key theme in his research is to use integrated measurements obtained at leaf, whole-plant, and stand levels to study factors that regulate photosynthetic efficiency, water/nutrient use efficiency, assimilate partitioning, yield and quality. The aim is to use the information gained in these studies to develop practical strategies to optimize productivity and quality by improving plant tolerance to environmental stresses.