Fresno State receives $8M gift for new agriculture research center

Fresno State announced Tuesday that the Assemi family, longtime Central Valley farmers and developers, have donated $8 million to build a new agriculture and water research center on the university farm south of Barstow Avenue. The gift is the largest single donation ever received by the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, university officials said, and will fund a 22,000-square-foot facility focused on almond, pistachio, and specialty crop research. "Water and technology are the two biggest challenges facing California agriculture, and Fresno State is where the answers are going to come from," Farid Assemi said in a statement. Groundbreaking is planned for next spring, with a target opening in fall 2028. The building will include lab space, a public demonstration orchard, and a partnership office with the USDA Agricultural Research Service.