Vegetables

Advancing Organic Potato Production with Mustard Seed Meal Extract: a multi-pronged tool to control weeds, promote soil health, and improve potato nutrition

Weed management, soil health, and nutritional quality of organically produced foods are among the highest priority organic research topics according to organic farmers across the US, and abundant peer-reviewed research supports these perspectives. Utilizing innovative organic agricultural practices that improve soil health, combat weeds, and enhance the nutritional quality of staple foods will enable farmers to successfully meet the challenges of feeding a rising global population.

Efficacy evaluation of biological control agents against wireworms in organic production

Wireworms, the larval stage of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae), are generalist subterranean herbivores that cause significant damage in a variety of crops. Managing wireworms has been a challenge due to their long-life cycle, subterranean living habitat, and ability to survive wide range of host plants. Although there are a few insecticides available for conventional farming, there is no effective alternative control measure against wireworms in organic production.

Weed Management, Reduced-tillage, and Soil Health: Weed Ecology in Biodesign Farm's Organic, Minimum-till Vegetable Production System

Soil health and nutrient cycling, crop yield, and weed competition was evaluated in a perennial living mulch row middle system with different in-crop-row soil/weed management treatments: no-tillage, minimum-tillage, conventional tillage, tillage/sprayed with vinegar, and tillage/mulched with paper (Ecocover). None of the treatments received any fertilizer other than incorporated one-year-old red clover cover crop which was strip-tilled into crop rows in April. No-till red clover was maintained in row middles between strip-till experiment crop rows. 

Impact of Disease Suppressive Composts on Organic Vegetable Quality, Composition and Yield

Project Objectives

-Analyze several animal manure-based, organic-approved compost products for suppression of important soil-borne pathogens of vegetable crops in the Northeast -Determine applicability of a farmer-based test kit for assessment of compost maturity to predict suppressiveness -Evaluate compost effects on plant stand and crop composition -Determine changes in microbial activity, disease suppressiveness and soil nitrate nitrogen of organically managed soils after addition of a compost 

Aerated compost tea and other alternative treatments for disease control in pumpkins

Objectives Statement a. To investigate the effectiveness of compost tea in suppressing fungal diseases of pumpkins and promoting overall crop health and yields; to demonstrate that compost tea can be an effective tool for managing fungal diseases when used as part of an organic / non-chemical farming system. Modification: The proposal was originally written with potato as the test crop. This was changed to pumpkin to ensure disease presence. b.

Breeding an open-pollinated vegetable variety in organic systems: The Public Seed Initiative

The project objective is to breed a CMV resistant bell pepper using King of the North as a commercial parent. King of the North, which has been provided by Turtle Tree Seeds (located in Copake, NY), is an early, cold tolerant bell pepper variety. It is described as a superior variety for both market and home gardeners that matches or surpasses many hybrids. While seeking to add CMV resistance we do not want to compromise on quality or earliness, but rather improve on these traits that are very important to organic growers. 

Organic certified seed potato production in the Midwest

Our overall goal is to support the growth of an organic certified seed potato industry in Wisconsin. We have addressed this goal by conducting field trials on participating Wisconsin organic farms in order to test organic production methods for seed potatoes that meet certification standards. We used information from our field trials and from published literature to develop educational resources for organic growers on becoming certified seed potato growers using disease testing to monitor potato health and organic management strategies to control common potato diseases.

Weed Suppression Using Brassicaceae Cover Crops in Organically Grown Peppers

The original objectives of this project as stated in the proposal were to: 1) Test the effectiveness of high glucosinolate-containing meals at controlling soilborne diseases (damping-off and white mold of lettuce) in an organic farming system. 2) Determine the influence of these materials on N cycling processes in organic systems.