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October 28, 2016
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9
Idaho
Alternative fruit crops show promise
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
PARMA, Idaho — Some
alternative fruit crops under
study at University of Idaho’s
Parma experiment station
show promising results.
“The alternative fruit
crop studies are very, very
promising,” said research-
er Essie Fallahi, who heads
UI’s pomology program and
is leading the study. “Some
of the fruits that we are get-
ting for the first time are
fantastic.”
Fallahi has been experi-
menting with different fruit
varieties from around the
world that he thinks could
grow well in Idaho.
The selection of fruits in-
cludes blackberries, quince,
pears, table grapes, strawber-
ries, persimmon and nut crops
such as walnuts, pecans and
almonds.
None of these crops are
grown commercially on a
significant scale in Idaho, but
Fallahi believes some of them
can be.
Fallahi said blackberry va-
rieties being studied at Parma
“are doing amazingly well.
This year we have fantastic
(results) among the berries we
tested.”
Pears from Iran that are
being tested at Parma reached
“tremendous” sizes in 2016,
the first year they were har-
vested.
“The size is ... at least a
time and a half bigger than or-
dinary pears,” he said.
Parma researchers are
also looking at 17 new vari-
eties of table grapes, which
are a fledgling industry in
Idaho.
“I think that we will find
they will make all the other
table grapes (grown in Idaho)
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
University of Idaho researcher Essie Fallahi holds two pears
harvested this year at UI’s Parma research station. Researchers
report promising results for several alternative fruits under study
there.
pale in comparison,” Fallahi
said. “This is very, very en-
couraging.”
Strawberry varieties plant-
ed for the first time at Parma
last year are also performing
well, he said.
Fallahi said the station has
two years of results for most
of the alternative crop variet-
ies but would like four years
of results before providing
hard recommendations to
growers.
“We are two years away
from having solid recom-
mendations,” he said. “A lot
(more) information is com-
ing.”
The station’s alternative
crop work has been support-
ed by Idaho State Department
of Agriculture specialty crop
grants as well as the south-
western Idaho commercial
fruit industry.
Jerry Henggeler, gener-
al manager and co-owner of
Henggeler Packing Co., said
he is particularly interested
in the nut and pear varieties
studied at the Parma research
station.
But his company is also
keeping an eye on all the
fruits studied there.
“You’re always looking
for something that might be
your next niche that will fit
into your portfolio,” Hengge-
ler said.
He said the work done by
fruit researchers is invaluable
to Idaho growers because they
need to know how certain va-
rieties will perform under Ida-
ho conditions, but can’t afford
to do that research on their
own.
“The first thing you want
to know is, will the crop grow
here with our weather, ground
conditions and our winters?”
Henggeler said. “(Fallahi) and
his crew are very, very partic-
ular. When we get numbers
from them, we’re pretty confi-
dent in those numbers.”
Michael Williamson, man-
ager of Williamson Orchards
and Vineyards, said niche
markets are critical for Ida-
ho’s commercial fruit growers
and the Parma fruit trials “are
a great way to keep Idaho on
the cutting edge of possibili-
ties.”
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Lily Maheras, left, and Lucy Melick measure the growth of oat seed
roots. The Holy Spirit Catholic School seventh-graders are helping
the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Aberdeen, Idaho, to
evaluate oat seeds for their ability to germinate in cold conditions.
Idaho seventh-graders to feature
research at genome conference
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
POCATELLO, Idaho —
For a few days, Virginia Jones’
seventh-graders will be peers
with 3,000 leading genetic sci-
entists and researchers, present-
ing their findings at the world’s
largest agricultural genomics
meeting.
The Holy Spirit Catholic
School students will be the only
children to prepare an abstract
and professional poster for dis-
play at the Plant & Animal Ge-
nome Conference Jan. 14-18 in
San Diego.
Their special circumstances
are the result of the unique im-
portance of their class project
— helping USDA’s Aberdeen
Agricultural Research Service
evaluate 250 heirloom oat vari-
eties for their ability to germi-
nate in cold conditions.
“They don’t horse around
when they’re doing this.
There’s no playing or any-
thing,” Jones said. “It’s a whole
different thing when they’re ac-
tually doing real science versus
a cookbook experiment.”
USDA-ARS research ge-
neticist Kathy Klos, the moth-
er of one of the seventh-grad-
ers, suggested the project
— and arranged for them to
present in San Diego, where
the conference will waive the
standard $600-per-person ad-
mission fee.
Klos hopes to develop new
oat varieties capable of ger-
minating earlier in the season,
enabling them to out-compete
weeds.
The seventh-graders are
preparing clear boxes of
moistened seeds to place in
a refrigerator, recording the
germination date of each va-
riety and logging root growth
on a spreadsheet.
Klos will show the students
how to run computer software
to compare their germination
data against 4,000 randomly
selected locations across the
genome — hoping to identify
commonalities within seeds
that perform well in the cold.
She’ll consider the data
when making future oat cross-
es, a fact that isn’t lost on the
students.
New design offers
longer shelf life for
fresh potatoes
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
IDAHO FALLS — A fresh
potato company has intro-
duced a new bag designed to
block light and significantly
extend the shelf life of spuds.
The announcement was
made at the Produce Market-
ing Association’s Fresh Sum-
mit Oct. 14-16 in Orlando,
Fla.
Idaho Falls-based Potan-
don Produce LLC, the largest
seller of fresh potatoes, has
been test marketing its new
Light-Blocker Half-N-Half
bags with its Klondike Gol-
dust line for three months.
The company plans to of-
fer the bags as an option to
retailers for about a dozen
top-selling products under
the Green Giant brand, said
Ralph Schwartz, vice pres-
ident of sales and export
sales.
“The PMA is a wonder-
ful forum because the entire
industry is there from an au-
dience standpoint, and the
audience representation is
really people who are deci-
sion-makers,” Schwartz said.
The bags block 99.5 per-
cent of ultraviolet and visible
light, which should virtually
eliminate potato greening in
retail displays and home pan-
tries, Schwartz said.
He also said the bags
should reduce sprouting and
dehydration.
The bags, which can be
manufactured for a couple of
pennies each more than tradi-
tional bags, have an opaque
layer beneath the front de-
cals and a clear back to al-
low consumers to view the
product.
“The whole crux of this
project was really to help
retailers have a better expe-
rience,” Schwartz said. “We
already have one really large
retailer who has tried it.”
Schwartz said the man-
ufacturer says the bags ex-
tend shelf life by a couple of
weeks. His internal testing
has found a significant im-
provement in the appearance
of spuds after an extended
period.
Michigan State Univer-
sity’s School of Packaging
developed the technology,
and Potandon’s bag suppli-
er, Volm Bag Co., holds the
trademark.
44-1/#5
Potandon introduces light-blocking bags
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