Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2016)
April 8, 2016 CapitalPress.com 9 Analysis: Organic market shows gaps, promise By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Courtesy of USDA Scientists and industry representatives walk through a curly top screening nursery at USDA’s Agricul- tural Research Service in Kimberly, Idaho. A doubled-haploid line developed in Kimberly has demon- strated the best curly top tolerance ever in the testing. Exceptional curly top resistance confirmed in Kimberly breeding beet By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press KIMBERLY, Idaho — Sci- entists say a new USDA sugar beet line developed for breed- ing programs to use as a parent in crosses has demonstrated the best curly top virus resis- tance ever recorded in repeat- ed trials. Molecular biologist Imad Eujayl, who developed the breeding line, KDHL13, at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Kimberly, said it has also provided researchers a better understanding of the genetics behind curly top re- sistance. Eujayl said scientists com- piled a “gene expression li- brary” by studying KDHL13’s genetic response to curly top infection. He anticipates his station will publish on curly top resistance molecular mark- ers — which help crop breed- ers quickly screen progeny for desirable traits — from the broader “library” by October. Carl Strausbaugh, a local USDA plant pathologist who tested KDHL13 in screening nurseries, said curly top can be especially bad when high heat forces the sugar beet leaf hoppers that harbor the virus to abandon desert plants early for new beet growth, sometimes causing yield losses above 30 percent. During the past de- cade, however, he said new seed treatments and resistant varieties have helped producers better control curly top. “From a historical perspec- tive, curly top has been one of the primary yield-limiting dis- eases sugar beet growers have had to deal with since sugar beets were grown in Idaho,” Strausbaugh said. Eujayl said KDHL13 was USDA’s first sugar beet line de- veloped with doubled-haploid technology — an advanced breeding method not classified as genetic modification yield- ing plants with two identical sets of chromosomes, thereby eliminating variability in prog- eny so crosses fully retain de- sirable traits. His process exposes unfer- tilized plant ovules to a growth medium in a petri dish. As a plant develops, its cells spon- taneously duplicate the single set of chromosomes. Any mu- tations are removed. Courtesy of USDA A sugar beet plant shows symptoms of curly top virus. A doubled-haploid line devel- oped in Kimberly, Idaho, has demonstrated the best curly top tolerance ever in testing. the ARS facility’s curly top re- search efforts. Cody Bingham, chairman of the Snake River Sugarbeet Research and Seed Alliance, said Amalgamated Sugar plans to slightly relax its curly top re- sistance standards for approved varieties within its growing area in the near future in or- der to introduce some options with higher sugar potential, though no additional beet va- rieties have been added to the approved list for the current growing season. Oregon farmers who want to crack the organic market might think about growing strawberries. Raspberries and dry bean varieties such as gar- banzos, pintos and black beans wouldn’t be a bad bet, either. But a new analysis from Oregon Tilth, which certifies organic operations, makes it clear that figuring out what to grow is only part of puzzle. The report, online at https:// tilth.org/resources/organ- ic-market-in-oregon/, says supply gaps, infrastructure problems and technical issues hamper what is otherwise a strong segment. Make no mistake, organic sales aren’t hurting. Nation- ally, sales expanded 12 to 21 percent annually between 1997 and 2008, slowed during the re- cession and picked up again in 2012, according to the analysis. By 2014, organic sales hit near- ly $36 billion, an 11.4 percent increase over the previous year. But a closer look at Or- egon’s organic scene shows producers will have to step it up, according to Oregon Tilth. Several issues snag production, processing and distribution, the report showed. “A look at trends in the mainstream grocery industry suggests that even if Oregon farmers are meeting the ma- jority of market needs now, continued expansion of gro- cery chains’ organic offerings will necessitate a crop supply increase to keep up with de- mand,” report author Tanya Murray wrote. Generally, buyers want more organic berries and stone fruit and more of the less com- mon vegetable crops, baby veg- etables, heirloom varieties and varieties that have exceptional flavor, according to the report. Some also want a certain lev- el of processing — items that are cut a certain way, peeled or roasted, for example. Other gaps persist. Buyers want producers trained on food safety regulations and grading standards. Farmers are some- times stymied by the organic certification process, includ- ing the need to develop new record-keeping systems, pay certification fees and wait out the three years it takes to certify a field. Appropriate crop rota- tions, necessary for field health, have to be planned as well. Farmers also need assurance that the market will still exist after the three-year transition period, during which “yields might be down, costs might be up and the premium prices that certified organic crops earn aren’t accessible,” the report concludes. The analysis suggests one- on-one relationships between buyers and farmers are im- portant. Such relationships can protect confidential company information while shielding farmers from downward price pressure that comes with a glut. To help solve those prob- lems, Oregon Tilth created the Transition to Organic Network, or TON, an online service di- rectly connecting farmers, pro- cessors, handlers, buyers and other service providers and stakeholders. Members can ask questions, share information and stay informed about edu- cational opportunities. The list- serv is at http://goo.gl/forms/ iTPJTpeiSa. In compiling the analysis, Oregon Tilth considered re- sponses from 31 processors and manufacturers, three nat- ural food grocery buyers and four wholesale distributors. The report was funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant administered by the Oregon Department of Agri- culture. “This (method) is now be- coming the bread and butter for us,” Eujayl said. The lack of variability also makes doubled-haploids ide- al for genetic analysis. Since KDHL13 was first released for breeding programs to eval- uate in 2012, Eujayl said his facility has developed 140 dou- bled-haploid sugar beet lines with a host of different desir- able traits. None are ready for release yet, but he anticipates at least a dozen more dou- bled-haploids will come out of his program by 2019. Based on three years of test- ing, KDHL13 was accepted by the Journal of Plant Regis- trations as the top performing sugar beet line for curly top re- sistance in January, and it was featured in this month’s edition of the USDA-ARS publication. Amalgamated Sugar Co. contributed funding toward 15-4/#18 John Deere Dealers See one of these dealers for a demonstration NPC offers research scholarship Capital Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Potato Council will award a $10,000 schol- arship to a college graduate student pursuing science to address challenges facing the potato industry, according to a press release. The scholarship will be available to graduate students. The deadline to apply is June 15. The scholarship will be awarded in August for the 2016-2017 academic year. Applications will be eval- uated based on a student’s past academic achievement, leadership ability, potato-re- lated areas of graduate study, goals, benefit to the potato in- dustry, extracurricular activi- ties, grades and the potential commercial value of research, according to the press release. For more information about the scholarship, visit http://nationalpotatocouncil. org/events-and-programs/ scholarship-program. 15-2/#4N
