Collaborative Breeding for and in Organic Systems

Collaborative Breeding for and in Organic Systems

Summary

Plant varieties bred in and for organically managed systems are the missing link in the organic production chain. Organic agriculture currently relies on varieties bred, selected and trialed in conventionally managed production environments. These varieties are then tested informally and anecdotally by organic growers to find good performers. In recent years due to a pronounced consolidation of the global seed industry, the range of variety choices are dwindling, thus some of the very best varieties for organic growers are no longer available. Many varieties bred under conventional management may perform poorly under organic growing conditions due to the fact that organic growers are limited in what type and amount of inputs (pesticides, fertilizers, etc.) that they are allowed to use. It has been demonstrated through millennia that farmers can be excellent breeders when given the resources and knowledge. By linking public plant breeders with organic growers and organic seed companies and doing collaborative on-farm breeding, selection and trialing, new organic varieties will be developed that are better adapted to regional and organic growing conditions and meet farmers’ needs. This will lead to greater sustainability for the organic farming community in the northeast.

We began this project by holding a series of regional organic breeding roundtable sessions in the fall of 2004 that brought together organic farmers, breeders, and seed companies throughout the Northeast from Maine to Pennsylvania. The growers and other attendees developed consensus identification of critical organic breeding needs that form the foundation for at least six collaborative on-farm organic breeding projects as required by our SARE proposal. Eight projects involving 17 growers and three breeders in New York and Maine were started in spring of 2005 and will culminate at the end of the grant with at least six advanced breeding populations for each major breeding project. Seven on-farm field days and twilight tours were held throughout the 2005 growing season involving at least 172 growers, researchers, and seed company representatives. These were held to educate and inform growers in plant breeding and to engage growers as active participants in the selection and breeding of the new varieties.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Through 3 variety roundtables a minimum of 6 growers, 3 regional seed companies, and 3 public breeders will collaboratively develop a minimum of 6 advanced breeding populations that will meet growers’ variety needs and improve their long-term sustainability and viability.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Milestone 1 Sixty organic growers, 5 seed company representatives, and 5 public breeders attend 3 variety roundtables (20 growers/meeting) in Maine, New York and Pennsylvania to identify specific breeding objectives for priority vegetable crops.

In the fall of 2004 we held three roundtables in Maine, New York, and Pennsylvania. We also had a shorter brainstorming discussion at the Restoring Our Seed annual conference in Brattleboro, Vermont. A total of 56 farmers, 5 breeders, and 7 seed company representatives participated in these successful brainstorming sessions (see appendix). Fedco Seeds, Seeds of Change, Pine Tree Garden Seeds, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Harris Seeds, High Mowing Seeds and Turtle Tree seeds were all represented. The roundtables involved farmers, breeders, and seed companies coming together to discuss what new and improved vegetable varieties organic farmers need. This involved growers sharing how they make variety choices for their farms including what traits are important, what vegetables groups need the most improvement and what their main challenges are for each important vegetable group. The growers then came up with three different lists of varieties that would help them. These included: varieties that are no longer available but growers still want to use, varieties that are very good but need some improvement, and concepts for new varieties with unique characteristics that define new breeding goals.

We involved 56 growers rather than our predicted 60 but found having slightly smaller groups worked very well in the roundtable discussions. Results of the roundtable were sent to all participants and additionally Territorial Seeds, West Coast Seeds, and Genesis Seeds. The Results were also given to the 75 participants of the 2005 Restoring our Seed Conference, were handed out at many of our events in 2005, and are available on the Organic Seed Partnership (OSP) Website (www.plbr.cornell.edu/psi/OSPbreeding.htm). We continue to solicit organic breeding needs from growers when we meet them at conferences, workshops, and on-farm twilight tours. There is also a link on the Organic Seed Partnership website where growers can email their requests.

Milestone 2 Three public plant breeders form partnerships with 6-10 organic farmers to begin collaborative breeding projects.

The three funded Breeders (Molly Jahn, Walter De Jong, and Mark Hutton) began breeding projects in organically managed environments as part this project in the spring of 2005. There are a total of 8 projects that are involving 17 organic farmers.

Improved CMV Resistant Early Bell Pepper (Molly Jahn with Mark Hutton): This project builds on two years of breeding we had already begun before the initiation of this award. With this support, we have continued toward the goal of a CMV resistant, early, great tasting bell pepper. Peppers were grown predominately on organically managed sites with the remaining peppers planted at conventional sites managed by George Moriarty on research ground assigned to Jahn’s program (Cornell Department of Plant Breeding). A total of over 4 acres of peppers were planted with early generation material for this program. Organically managed sites used in this program include: The Cornell University Freeville Organic Research Farm, University of Maine Highmoor Farm, 5 organic farms in New York State, and one seed company (Turtle Tree Seeds). One participating farm, Peacework Organic Farm, has been a cooperating farm since the beginning of this breeding project. The 2005 field season with its very hot and dry weather was great for selecting which breeding lines produced mature peppers in this extreme weather. Selections from the 2005 field season will be screened for CMV resistance in the greenhouse over the winter of 2005-06 and the F2 through F6 generations will be available for growers, researchers, and seed companies to trial (and select from) for 2006. We will utilize the same main sites and also include additional farmer participation.

Improved Costata Romanesca squash (Molly Jahn): This project builds on initial squash crosses that were performed at Cornell in the winter of 2003-4, at the request of organic farmers. The goal of this project is to produce a Costata Romenesca type squash with improved disease resistance and compact bush plant habit that retains the original taste of the squash. We grew out 29 F3 generations from Crosses originally made between Costata Romanesca and the Cornell University developed varieties PMR Caserta, Success PM, and Sweet REBA.. They were grown out at the Cornell Freeville Organic Farm and two cooperating farms grew out the same lines to evaluate them on their farms. Additionally, in an effort to involve growers in early generation selection, six growers grew out and selected from F2 populations as part of the spring 2005 OSP seed requests coordinated by NOFA-NY. Controlled pollinations were performed at the Freeville site, and selections were made, based on our original goals and input from the cooperating growers. We have selected several 30 improved lines including those that look like Costata Romanesca, as well as some with novel fruit color. The F4 generation will be planted in Freeville and with cooperating growers in 2006. Additionally, we are advancing 3 new F1 populations (Costata Romanesca  PMR Zucchini) over the winter in the greenhouse. This F2 seed will be available for growers to grow and select from and we will also grow it at the Freeville Organic Farm.

Improved Heirloom melons (Molly Jahn): Our goal is to produce a more disease resistant, high yielding melon while maintaining the best traits of the heirloom parents. At the Cornell Freeville Organic Farm we planted out F1, F2, and F3 generations of heirloom melons (Collective Farmwomen and Golden Gopher) that have been crossed with six Cornell disease resistant varieties including PMR Delicious 51. Additionally two growers grew out and selected from F2 populations as part of the spring 2005 OSP seed requests coordinated by NOFA-NY. At the Freeville Organic Farm we made self pollinations and fruit assessment on promising lines. We had a great melon year and made good progress towards our goal. We will continue advancing these populations and making selections in 2006 and 2007.

Improved Heirloom Cucumbers (Molly Jahn with Mark Hutton): Our goal is to breed a more disease resistant Boothby’s Blonde cucumber. We planted out F1, F2, and F3 generations of Boothby’s Blonde Cucumber crossed with the Cornell developed, highly disease resistant, Marketmore 97 at the Cornell Freeville Organic Farm. On conventionally managed land the same breeding lines were screened in the field for virus resistance. Cooperating Breeder Mark Hutton also grew out seed and made selections at the University of Maine Highmoor Farm. One grower also planted out F2 seed and made on-farm selections. We have selected out several powdery mildew resistant lines that closely resemble Boothby’s as well as several new novel types. We are making steady progress toward both a more disease resistant Boothby’s type cucumber as well as other novel types. We will continue growing out and selecting from advanced generations in 2006.

Improved Prudens Purple Tomato (Mark Hutton): This is a continuation of a project started (and continuing) by the Restoring Our Seed Project (USDA- NESARE funded). The goal is to develop and select a more disease resistant great tasting Prudens Purple type tomato. We grew out 18 selections made in 2004, at the University of Maine Highmoor Farm in 50 plant plots. Selections for type, taste, and disease resistance were made in 2005. We will continue to select and stabilize promising breeding lines in 2006 and 2007.

A Superior Organic Broccoli (Mark Hutton, Jim Myers, Mark Farnum): The goal is to select a broccoli that does well under organic conditions and meets the needs of organic growers. We grew out 12 broccoli lines at the University of Maine Highmoor Farm and at one cooperating organic farm in Maine. The sources were di-haploid Broccoli lines from a USDA breeder in South Carolina as well an OP broccoli being developed by Jim Myers of Oregon State University (OSU). In New York 4 growers grew and selected from the OSU OP broccoli. Although the di-haploids were originally developed as hybrid parent lines it was thought that they could make good open pollinated varieties in their own right. Seed was saved from all the lines and they were evaluated based on date of maturity, plant habit, seed production ability and head type and size. We will continue the evaluation and selection over the next few years. A Few of di-hapoid lines show promise as open pollinated varieties. The broccoli was also grown for evaluation on a local organic farm, Willow Pond Farm, Sabattus, ME.

Early generation selection of potato clones under organic conditions (Walter De Jong) This project seeks to determine whether it is more efficient to identify potato clones adapted for organic production by conducting all evaluation – not just replicated yield, on an organic farm. It is a well-known breeding maxim that the best way to identify a clone adapted for a particular environment is to select it in that environment. Nevertheless, a significant practical difficulty with potato breeding is that clones need to be multiplied for many years before a decision can be made about release. During this time there are many opportunities for clones to become infected with viruses, reducing yield, or other more serious pests such as late blight, that can wipe out limited seed stocks and preclude further evaluation. Which issue ultimately proves dominant – the advantage of selecting in the target environment, or the risk of serious disease – remains to be seen.
Alternating four-hill plots of 322 red and 323 white clones were planted at Sabol farms in Ovid, NY. These clones were grown from botanical seed in pots in 2004, and had not previously been evaluated in the field. At harvest tubers from 50 clones (27 red, 23 white) were saved for further evaluation next year. Selection decisions were made jointly with Richard Sabol, the farm proprietor, to ensure relevance for his markets. Because of the drought in the summer of 2005, selection pressure was heavily slanted towards early sizing ability and/or drought tolerance. In addition to the clones saved in 2005, we intend to plant additional new clones on the Sabol operation in 2006 and 2007, making additional selections each year.

A Leafhopper Resistant Potato for Organic Systems (Walter De Jong): The goal is to evaluate leafhopper resistant potato clones under organic conditions. The clones were developed and selected at Cornell University in previous seasons under conventional conditions. Because potatoes are clones, breeding in potatoes consists mostly of evaluating the variety under many different seasons and locations rather than stabilizing a variety like in most other vegetable plant breeding. Seventeen clones, many of them with resistance to leafhoppers, were evaluated in a replicated yield trial at an organic farm (Starflower Farms in Candor, NY). The best performing was Keuka Gold, a yellow-fleshed variety from Cornell. At 388 cwt/acre, it yielded twice as much as Yukon Gold (159 cwt/acre). The second best yield (359 cwt/acre) was observed with NY131, a leafhopper-resistant Cornell clone. One Cornell clone, NY130, proved remarkably susceptible to early blight. This susceptibility had never been noted before, presumably because fungicides applied in all prior trials had masked this weakness. We plan to continue to evaluate advanced clones in replicated yield trials on organic farms in 2006 and 2007. Making recommendations about which potato clones are best invariably requires several years of data. Several of these same varieties have also been grown in 2004 and 2005 at many cooperating organic farms throughout New York to evaluate how they do under different regions and yearly weather conditions.

Milestone 3 A total of 80 farmers and 3 seed company representatives attend on-farm field days (6-10) for each year at each breeding site and learn breeding and selection techniques and make early generation selections in collaboratively produced breeding populations.

At least 172 people, including at least 50% farmers, participated in 7 separate on-farm field days or twilight tours. Eighteen seed companies were represented. Each event included a walk through of the on-farm breeding projects, a description of breeding techniques, and the opportunity for participants to provide input into the breeding process. Most of the events provided the opportunity for growers to learn and practice on-farm breeding techniques. We also presented results and conducted workshops at 3 different conferences in 2005. Over 200 people attended these events.

On August 2nd, 2005 seventy-two organic farmers, extension agents, and researchers attended a tour of the Cornell Freeville Organic Farm that included our organic breeding. Michael Glos explained the projects to the participants and received input on the projects goals and progress.

On August 12th, 2005 Michael Glos and George Moriarty presented an organic breeding workshop to 18 participants at the 31st annual Northeast Organic Farming Associations Summer conference in Amherst, Massachusetts. This including teaching breeding techniques and describing the organic breeding projects funded by NESARE.

On August 17th, 2005 Molly Jahn and Elizabeth Dyck instructed 10-15 growers in on-farm breeding including pollination techniques to conserve seed of and breed new squash, cucumber, melon, tomato, and pepper varieties. The event was held at Hearty Roots Community Farm, in Tivoli, NY and was also part of the Organic Seed Partnership.

On August 24th, 2005 we showed Heather Jarrett from High Mowing Seeds the organic breeding field at Cornell’s Freeville Organic Farm. Her company is especially interested in early red peppers for organic growers in the Northeast.

On August 29th, 2005 23 people representing 17 seed companies toured our organic breeding plots at the Freeville Organic Farm. This was part of the Vegetable Breeding Institute’s Annual Seedsmens’ Field Days. The Vegetable Breeding Institute is a unique industry consortium with 33 member seed companies that include all the large and medium size companies and many small companies located all over the world. Many of the seed companies, although currently not marketing to organic farmers, expressed interest in breeding and marketing varieties for organic markets and the potential the organic markets may hold for their businesses.

On August 30th, 2005 18 participants, including the president and a new plant breeder of Johnny’s Selected Seeds and their recently hired vegetable breeder, attended a twilight tour of Peacework Organic Farm in Newark, NY. Participants learned about pepper breeding techniques and toured this grower’s pepper breeding plots that are part of the Improved CMV Resistant Early Bell Pepper project. We also demonstrated squash pollinations on the F2 population from the Costata Romanesca breeding projects. Additionally, all participants sampled and provided input on melons from the heirloom melon breeding project.

On September 1st, 2005 13 farmers, researchers, and extension agents attended a twilight tour at Starflower Farm in Candor, NY. Walter De Jong showed participants the organic potato breeding project being done on this certified organic farm and explained to growers how potato breeding is done. Participants were able to see how different released and unreleased varieties do in relation to problem of potato leaf hoppers.

On September 23rd and 24th Michael Glos attended the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Common Ground Country Fair in Unity Maine. With staff from the USDA-PGRU he helped farmers and gardeners clean seed and answered on-farm breeding questions.

On September 7th, 2005 Forty five people attended an afternoon tour and seed cleaning at Homestead Organics in Moravia, NY. Participants learned about pepper breeding techniques and toured this grower’s pepper breeding plots that are part of the Improved CMV Resistant Early Bell Pepper project. Walter De Jong was also present to explain potato breeding and show several publicly bred potato varieties that this grower was growing.

On October 29th-30 Jason Cavatorta (PhD candidate in the Cornell Department of Plant Breeding) attended the 4th Annual Restoring Our Seed Conference at Bramble Hill Farm in Amherst, MA. Over 75 people attended this event. Jason presented the results from our first year of our NESARE funded breeding to the group and explained and received input on the techniques we are using.

Milestone 4 Each breeding collaborative will develop a minimum of 6 advanced breeding populations that will meet growers’ variety needs and improve their long-term sustainability and viability.

Although we have finished only the first year of a three year project, we are currently progressing well towards this goal. Because several of the projects are building on previous years of breeding we will have some advanced lines that will be trialed by growers and seed companies in 2006. This will include at least 6 advanced selection of CMV resistant early bell peppers and a long white disease resistant cucumber from the improved heirloom cucumber project.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

We have successfully determined specific breeding needs from organic growers and seed companies that enabled us to begin the work to meet their needs. We will continue through the rest of the project to accomplish this breeding. We have met or exceeded all milestones involved with the project and are well on our way towards delivering the specific outputs required by this award.

Collaborators: