Regeneration of native California oak trees with black truffle cultivation

View the project final report

Commodities

• Additional Plants: trees
• Miscellaneous: mushrooms

Practices

• Crop Production: agroforestry
• Natural Resources/Environment: afforestation
• Soil Management: soil microbiology

California’s native oak population has declined because of long drought, goldspotted oak borers and other diseases, negatively impacting the local ecosystem. Some species, such as Engelmann Oak, have fallen into threatened status.  While many acres of agriculture land are left idle due to high cost of farming and low produce prices, reforestation is not occurring naturally. Seedlings from oak acorns need deliberate effort to survive the initial years, including irrigation, protection from wild animals and weed control. We design a new agroforest system to bring income to farmers and locally produced delicacy to consumers and replenish the native oak forest. Our project will test the feasibility of introduction of black truffle fungi to roots of native oak seedlings and observe their development in local soils, which is the first step of setting up truffle cultivation with native oak trees. The black truffle fungi will provide extended root network for oak trees and help them fend off diseases. The black truffles produced from the replanted trees will become a high value crop and bring income to farmers, thereby making the reforestation effort financially sustainable with many benefits to the ecosystem. We will communicate with farmers and agriculture professionals nationwide and statewide with our results and host outreach activities in our local communities. We will also educate students and future farmers about the new agroforest system for truffle production.

1. to optimize protocol and test the successful colonization of black Perigord truffle (Tuber Melanosporum) in the roots of native oak seedling after inoculation with truffle spores in the greenhouse condition during the first year.
2. to work out soil amendment and irrigation schedule for planting the seedling in the ground and monitor the presence of truffle micro in the roots during the second year.
3. to perform outreach to raise awareness of saving oak forest, to introduce a black truffle as a new local commodity among farmers, conservationists, chefs and consumers and educate students and next generation farmers about the sustainable agriculture practice.