Onion growers in the semi-arid, irrigated Columbia Basin produce 27% of the storage onions in the USA, with a crop farmgate value ranging from $4,000-$7,000/acre. Symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonize roots of many plant species and help the plants mine soil more effectively for immobile nutrients, particularly phosphorus (P). AMF can also help defend […]
Organic food production in Washington State is expanding rapidly. However, this industry is hampered by the lack of effective antimicrobial agents which can be used in organic food production. Plants rely on innate immunity to defend microbial invasion, depending on the antimicrobial effects of phytocompounds. Plants (herbs) with high antimicrobial contents were used to treat […]
Restoring livestock to mixed-vegetable farms allows on-farm fertilizer production and the sale of high-value meat products. Likewise, diversifying farms with native plants provides habitat for pest-killing birds and predatory insects. Unfortunately, both practices carry the risk of unintentional contamination of produce by human pathogens (e.g., E. coli O157:H7), transmitted through livestock feces or those of […]
The popularity of quinoa in the past decade has quadrupled prices at U.S. retail outlets. For all this demand, the vast majority of the quinoa consumed in the U.S. is imported from Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, with 65% of the quinoa sold in the U.S. being organic. This project hopes to increase organic quinoa production […]
Barley has well-documented nutritional advantages over other small grains as a source of human food. Researchers from WSU have been breeding and selecting hulless food barley types, a novel and promising market class for Washington growers. For this current project, our research and extension goals are to: 1) identify and release high yielding, disease resistant, […]
The proposed study will address the priority topic area of biologically-intensive and organic approaches to sustainable management of soil quality, particularly focusing on the economic valuation of soil improvement practices. To do this, we will combine information from producer focus groups, a literature search, and field measurements to estimate the benefits and costs of soil […]
Soil-borne pathogens, particularly root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.), Fusarium spp., and Rhizoctonia spp. are a major constraint to grain production in the Pacific Northwest. Yield losses associated with these pathogens rages from 20-60% in infested fields. Symptoms often mimic drought or nutrient deficiencies because of plant root damage. The options available to growers to control pathogen […]
Farmland in urban-influenced regions produces the majority of vegetables and fruits grown in the U.S., yet rural-urban interface (RUI) farms are threatened by development pressure, climate change, economic conditions, and infrastructure loss (American Farmland Trust, 2007). Developing innovative marketing relationships and strategic policy alliances with urban consumers can potentially enhance RUI farm viability. Community-led food […]
Priority area: Novel approaches to disease and fertility management that transcend traditional organic approaches and seek to exploit and integrate biological and chemical processes. Flavins (riboflavin, FMN and FAD; vitamin B2) are bioactive molecules that have a beneficial effect on plant growth and soil quality. Recently we found that mutations in the riboflavin biosynthetic pathway […]
Potatoes are a valuable Washington crop that is threatened by devastating insect pests. We have found (1) that insect-killing “entomopathogenic” nematodes (EPNs) are key natural enemies of these insects, and (2) that organic farming greatly increases EPN genetic diversity. Additionally, genetically-diverse mixes of EPN strains are more lethal to insects than any single worm strain. […]