A robust infrastructure is integral to the quality, growth and sustainability of the organic agriculture industry, including requirements for product safety. The microbial safety of fresh produce is a common concern, highlighted by recent outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes. This project builds on our previous research investigating the potential of […]
This project addresses the BIOAg priority of economic analysis by investigating the cost and returns for establishing a cider apple orchard in Washington. The enterprise budget will include specialty varieties used for quality hard ciders, and a comparison of hand harvest with machine harvest using currently available equipment (raspberry harvester). The goal is to support […]
Arthropod pest management in Washington wine grapes is low input and based on conservation biological control (CBC). Sustainability depends on maintenance of year-round populations of pest natural enemies (PNE) in and near vineyards. Restoration of native habitat, primarily plants upon which endemic natural enemies depend for resources, should help maintain and sustain PNE populations in […]
This project goal is to conduct and disseminate field and lab based hay production quality and economic research on timothy, a perennial cool season grass with teff, a annual warm season crop through intercropping, promoting stability and sustainability for timothy hay producers in Washington State. Intercropping timothy with teff was not successful the first or […]
Protecting wheat during the transition to organic production and managing soil nitrogen during the organic production phase represent major impediments to increasing organic acreage. We have developed a system that incorporates weed control and the use of a pea intercrop as a source of nitrogen to address these impediments by intercropping winter pea with winter […]
In an ongoing BIOAg supported study, it has been shown that tomatoes grown with organic nitrogen sources had higher phytonutrient contents than those fertilized with readily available nitrogen. It is hypothesized that improved nitrogen cycling may be the underlying cause of these observed differences. In addition, defense compounds are enhanced in tomatoes grown with organic […]
The continued growth in the organic food market presents many Washington growers with the difficult decision of whether to switch from conventional production. While a cost and return estimate (enterprise budget) is a fundamental tool for the considering a new enterprise, information beyond a net return estimate for the “typical” producer is more crucial for […]
Quinoa is a highly nutritious and broadly adapted grain crop in high demand in the US and particularly in the Pacific Northwest region. However, very little is known about appropriate varieties and farming practices, including irrigation needs, fertility requirements and potential intercropping strategies to help control weeds and provide supplemental nitrogen. Our project would primarily […]
Market forces are driving conventional Columbia Basin potato growers towards less-chemically-intensive pest management approaches, such as biological control. Insect-killing, entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), which live in the soil, have great potential for controlling insects with belowground life stages — such as the Colorado potato beetle. Our initial results suggest that EPNs can be incredibly abundant in […]
The project addresses the first FY12 program area for biologically intensive and organic approaches to sustainable management of fertility and plant nutrition. The objective of the project is to identify pea lines that can be fall planted and will fix the maximum amount of nitrogen by early spring. Such lines would be suitable for intercropping […]