Developing "Organic-Ready" Maize Populations with Gametophytic Incompatibility: Year IV
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Snap beans with enhanced nitrogen-use efficiency
for organic production-Year 2
Can Organic Garlic Seed Stock Be Created Disease-Free From the Production of Garlic Bulbils?
Serious diseases of garlic have been imported from foreign sources and are now widespread within the US and Canada. Stem and Bulb Nematode (Ditylenchus dipsaci) in garlic seed (vegetative reproduction) will infest the soil and is impossible to eradicate using organic approved methods. It is a threat to other crops, including onions, potatoes, alfalfa, and strawberries. Infested land is substantially reduced in value, as the nematode may be transferred on equipment.
The organic industry is on track for a six-fold increase in the next five years, having grown from $6.1 billion in sales in 2000 to $29.2 billion in sales in 2011 (4.2% of total food sales in the U.S that year). Consumer demand continues to drive steady growth of this sector, which is indicated by average growth of 8% per year since 2002.
The snap bean is a vegetable in the Fabaceae family and does have the capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen through a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium spp. Historically, easy access to nitrate-based soil amendments at a relatively low cost has precluded the need to develop cultivars with improved nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE). Excessive fertilizer applications containing 40 to over 100 lbs. of N / acre have resulted in leaching and the contamination of ground and surface water.
Very little sweet corn grown commercially today is open pollinated. Farmers who wish to save their own seed have few if any good choices of varieties to grow. Today’s hybrids have been developed for conditions that are different from those found on most organic farms. Organic sweet corn growers deserve better choices.
Organic growers consider weeds their number one problem in crop production. Organic growers whether they grow vegetables, grains, herbs, berries, or native plants are constantly on the lookout for finding new technology that reduce severity of weed problems and yield losses. One method is to assess whether the use of compost extract would lead to weed seed suppression for better crop seed emergence.