Ag Answers: Business and Science Agriculture

https://ag.purdue.edu/aganswers/Pages/archive.aspx?story=787#.VDF0RildWdN[10/6/2014 4:20:01 PM]

A partnership of

3
0
Federal grant awarded for organic tomato
research led by Purdue
By Emma Hopkins | Posted on 10/1/2014
WEST LAFAYETTE,
Ind. - Purdue University has received a $2
million federal grant to lead multi-institution
research on breeding new varieties of organic
tomatoes that would resist foliar diseases and
still have the delicious taste that consumers
want.
The grant, awarded by the Organic Research and
Extension Initiative of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's National Institute of Food and
Agriculture, will also enable researchers to identify management practices that
reduce disease pressure while protecting soil and water quality.
Lori Hoagland, assistant professor of horticulture at Purdue, is heading the project
that includes researchers from North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T
University, Oregon State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison and the
Organic Seed Alliance.
The research reflects increasing consumer interest in organic crops, said Jay
Akridge, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Purdue Agriculture.
"Research like Dr. Hoagland's is helping farmers improve productivity and
profitability in their organic and low-input systems so they can take advantage of
the demand and meet the needs of this growing market," Akridge said.
The researchers will look into ways farmers can avoid foliar pathogen diseases such
as early blight, late blight and Septoria leaf spot. The issue is especially important
in the Midwest and Southeast regions of the U.S. where warm, humid conditions
favor these diseases and severe outbreaks can destroy tomato crops.
Tomato growers often plant heirloom varieties rather than newer disease-resistant
hybrids because of the heirlooms' appetizing taste. But heirloom varieties tend to
be highly susceptible to foliar diseases.
Frequent application of copper fungicides can help organic growers manage foliar
diseases. But copper can kill microorganisms in soil that help plants grow and can
affect water quality. Growers could forgo copper applications if a new, resistant,
sweet-tasting variety were produced.
Conventional growers also could benefit from such new varieties because they
would reduce the amount of pesticides they use, thereby lowering their costs.
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Federal grant awarded for organic
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Ag Answers: Business and Science Agriculture
https://ag.purdue.edu/aganswers/Pages/archive.aspx?story=787#.VDF0RildWdN[10/6/2014 4:20:01 PM]
The researchers will work on breeding tomato varieties that can connect with
beneficial soil microbes in their roots that help them fight diseases, Hoagland said.
They will also investigate management practices that favor these beneficial soil
microbes and identify new organic fungicides that are more environmentally
friendly.
Vegetable producers will contribute to the four-year project.
"The growers will be intimately involved in all phases of the research, especially the
breeding component," Hoagland said. "The growers will help us identify key plant
traits, and final selections will be conducted on working farms."
Other Purdue researchers involved in the project are Tesfaye Mengiste, professor in
botany and plant pathology and Dan Egel, Extension plant pathologist.

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