ASHS 2024 Conference

Improved postharvest storage is a major target for vegetable-crop production. Nutritional contents and flavor are traits highly affected from harvesting to final consumption. Several reports have demonstrated that these traits are strong driving factors impacting consumers’ decisions and preferences when purchasing food. Therefore, these are economically important traits related to strong commercialization potential and improved market value. Assessing the potential variation in post-harvest shelf life among vegetable crops will be critical to identify parental lines that can be used in breeding programs to improve these traits and their effect on the quality of produce. Additionally, investigating the genetic mechanisms underlying post-harvest shelf life in horticultural crops is critical. This will result in the development of molecular breeding tools associated with improving shelf life, which will accelerate breeding. This interest group seeks to provide case studies from experts worldwide who have worked on breeding for nutritional contents, flavor, and post-harvest shelf life in vegetables.

Coordinator(s)

• Carlos Avila, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Weslaco, TX, United States

Moderator(s)

• Dennis Nicuh Lozada, New Mexico State University, Plant and Environmental Sciences, Las Cruces, NM, United States
• Devi Kandel, Langston University, United States

Speaker/Participant(s)

• Carmit Ziv, Institute of Postharvest and Food Science, ARO, Volcani Institute, Israel
  Breeding for improved postharvest quality of peppers during cold storage (15 mins)
  Summary: Dr. Ziv's research program studies postharvest disease control of fruity vegetables by developing environment-friendly treatments to control postharvest fungal rot, understanding resistance mechanisms of phytopathogenic fungi to cold storage, uncovering the role of lipids in determining the interactions between fruits and pathogenic fungi during storage.
• Carlos Avila, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Weslaco, TX, United States
  Lack of locule gel increases post-harvest shelf-life and quality in tomato (15 mins)
  Summary: Dr. Avila's research program is focused on the development of tomato and spinach cultivars adapted to Texas conditions. Research work includes the characterization of plant a/biotic stress and vegetable quality trait regulation using molecular, physiological, and biochemical approaches to develop applied strategies to improve breeding efficiency and ultimately crop resistance and quality. Current efforts include the development of firm long shelf-life tomato cultivars with improved flavor and nutritional content.
• Bhimu Patil, Texas A&M University, Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, College Station, Texas, United States
  Post-harvest shelf life and nutritional quality in horticultural crops (15 mins)
  Summary: Dr. Patil has been actively involved in both research and educational activities related to global level ‘Foods for Health’. His research, in collaboration with trans-disciplinary scientists, related to bioactive-derived assays led to isolation and characterization of certain bioactive compounds in citrus and turmeric and other vegetables. His research is also focused on pre and postharvest effects on bioactive compounds in citrus, onion and recently his work is focused on other vegetables and fruits.
• Alexander Goldshmidt, Institute of Plant Sciences, ARO, Volcani Institute, Israel
  Exploring the Role of CLASS-II KNOX mediated Ripening Pathways for the Discovery of Novel Genetic Approaches to Extend Fruit Shelf Life (15 mins)
  Summary: Dr. Goldshmidt research is focused on investigation of the genetic factors and networks controlling development of the pericarp tissues in fruits of Solanaceae crops tomato and pepper. His lab seek to use their research to develop novel genetic solutions and tools to extend fruit's shelf life and improve its consumer attractiveness and nutritional values.
• Isabel Ortega-Salazar, UC Davis, United States
  Control of fruit ripening, improvement of fruit quality, and fruit-pathogen interactions. (15 mins)
  Summary: Dr. Blanco-Ulate's research program integrate systems biology approaches with biochemical and physiological analyses to study fruit development and quality traits, and to establish a novel framework for the early detection and efficient management of fruit diseases.

This workshop is to introduce the coordinated network of non-biased plant trials that has been successfully established to assess plant growth and aesthetic quality under deficit irrigation in six locations with different climate and soil types. The standard evaluation method will be highlighted to allow the audience to gain a behind-the-scenes look at the success and challenges of managing a multi-year and multi-state field project titled ‘Climate Ready Landscape Plants’. The evaluation methods employed in this project could potentially be utilized for selecting climate-resilient plants in other regions of the United States and beyond.

During their presentations, participants will be invited to: 1) Learn about the process of building cooperator and stakeholder engagement for a regional multistate project. 2) Practice using an Excel-based Irrigation Log to apply deficit irrigation using reference evapotranspiration published by local weather stations. 3) Practice evaluating selected landscape plants (pictures and/or live plants purchased from Home Depot in Honolulu) using the Rubric for Plant Aesthetic Ratings developed by the UC Landscape Plant Irrigation Trials™ team. 4) Learn the standard methods for collecting plant physiology data of selected landscape plants across multiple locations and understand the project results regarding stomatal conductance, which was collected using LI-600 Porometer/Fluorometer, LI-6800 Photosynthesis System, and/or CIRAS-3/4 Portable Photosynthesis System, etc. Ventors such as LI-COR Biosciences and PP Systems will be invited to demonstrate their equipment for plant physiological measurements (e.g. stomatal conductance) during the session. 5) Learn the standard methods for collecting plant growth and visual quality data across six locations and understand the challenges and results of common taxa tested in six diverse geographic locations. 6) Learn step-by-step how to conduct open houses and invite professionals to help evaluate plants in the field trials, as well as how to collect and use the data.

Following their presentations, the six speakers along with other team members including Dr. Lloyd Nackley, Dr. Ryan Contreras, Dr. Shital Poudyal, and Dr. Youping Sun, will be invited to join a 30-min panel discussion session to further share the success and challenges of managing a multi-year and multi-state field project. They will delve into the opportunities and challenges currently facing the Green Industry. This discussion aims to foster future collaboration for expanding current research and Extension efforts. The goal is to promote the production and utilization of low-water-use plants within the green industry and among the gardening public, especially in the context of a changing climate.

Western U.S. nursery stock, bedding, annual, and perennial plant sales exceeded $2.9 billion in 2017, with nursery stock sales from this region alone accounting for 37.6% of total U.S. sales (Agricultural Statistics, 2017). However, climate change and increased urban water demand threaten the future of the Green Industry. The Western U.S. is expected to endure extreme droughts escalating in severity due to climate change, less predictable precipitation patterns, and decreased soil moisture (Cayan et al., 2010). Urban water supplies will be further stressed by population growth. The populations of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah increased by 1.7% or more from 2017 to 2018 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). To address these challenges, growers must supply low-water-use plants and the landscape industry must utilize them to facilitate water conservation by reducing landscape irrigation requirements. In response to this need, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Specialty Crop Multi-State Program funded a project titled ‘Climate Ready Landscape Plants’ in 2020 to the University of California, Davis. With the funding, trial methods developed in California have been expanded to four additional western states: Arizona, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. A coordinated network of non-biased plant trials has been established to assess plant growth and aesthetic quality under three irrigation frequencies. Low-water-use plants were identified in 2022 and 2023 and will be recommended for production and utilization. The information developed will be provided to the green industry to aid in sustainable decision-making, marketing, and business support. The evaluation methods employed in this project could potentially be utilized for selecting climate-resilient plants in other regions of the United States and beyond.

Agricultural Statistics 2017. 2017. United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Ag_Statistics/2017/Complete%20Ag%20Stats%202017.pdf Cayan, D.R., Das, T., Pierce, D.W., Barnett, T.P., Tyree, M., and Gershunov, A. 2010. Future dryness in the southwest US and the hydrology of the early 21st century drought. Proceedings of the Natl. Acad. of Sci. 107 (50), 21271-21276. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0912391107 United States Census Bureau. 2018. Nevada and Idaho are the nation’s fastest growing states. United States Department of Commerce. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/estimates-national-state.html

Coordinator(s)

• Youping Sun, Utah State University, Department of Plants, Soils & Climate, Logan, Utah, United States

Moderator(s)

• Lloyd Nackley, North Willamette Research and Extension Center Oregon State University, Aurora, OR, United States

Speaker/Participant(s)

• Lorence Oki, Building Cooperator and Stakeholder Engagement for a Regional Multistate Project 
• Jared Sisneroz, Coordinating a Standard Irrigation Protocol across Six Diverse Plant Trial Locations 
• Karrie Reid, Introducing the Criteria for Plant Aesthetic Ratings
• Soo-Hyung Kim, Coordinated Assessment of Physiological and Morphological Traits of Landscape Plants across Multiple Locations in the Western United States
• Ursula Schuch, Assessing Plant Growth and Visual Quality - Challenges and Results of Common Taxa Tested in Six Diverse Geographic Locations
• Natalie Levy, A Step-by-Step Guide for Organizing a Successful Open House Event