Producing safe, nutritious, environmentally sound and economically profitable dry bean and potato industries in New York

2007 Impact statement
  • Halseth, Donald Earl

abstract

This is a horticulturaly based project working on the needs of the dry bean and potato industries of New York State. Collaborative work is conducted with: plant breeders to develop improved varieties for our unique environments and markets; entomologists and plant pathologists to develop efficient and safe pest and disease control; horticulturalists and extension staff to develop best production management practices; regulatory agencies to ensure fair and appropriate oversight; and industry, including growers and processors, to ensure that our efforts work for them and are economically and environmentally sound.

submitted by

issue being addressed

Both the dry bean and potato industries are facing increasing competition from other regions of the US and also internationally. Given our Northeast location, it is a positive in closeness to market, requiring less fuel in shipping to markets, but it also means that we have a more harsh and shorter growing season than many other production locations. Growers in both industries need new varieties which are better adapted to our stressful growing environment, which includes extremes in temperature and rainfall, not to mention a larger complex of disease and insect problems. It is important to grow a quality crop of stable volume to maintain markets. Both industries service unprocessed markets (dry pack beans and bagged tubers) and processed products (dry beans are canned, potatoes are chipped). Both market segments require specific attributes that growers must consider in their management and marketing decisions.

response

The dry bean and potato project has used as many resources as possible to develop programming and products to help both industries remain competitive. First, extensive involvement of both industries is used to determine priorities and what resources might be made available. Given the continual down-sizing of university resources in agricultural research and extension, we develop extensive networks with breeders, horticulturalists, pathologists, and extension staff to help provide the needed cultural practice information and genetic material for new varieties. This is accomplished by many methods, including regional meetings, regional site-visits, and joint regional variety trials. New management guidelines need to be developed for the new varieties so that they can be more successfully adopted by industry. At every development phase, industry is included in evaluations, including consumer acceptance.

impact assessment

The single biggest impact from our project is that derived from developing golden nematode resistant potato varieties. The Golden Nematode (GN) is a significant worldwide agricultural production and marketing pest. Its commercial hosts are potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants, but has over 90 alternative hosts. Potato yields can be reduced by over 80 percent, with control costs further adding to losses. Research has found that GN resistant potato varieties are the most efficient, effective and environmentally sound control method. Each season that a GN resistant variety is grown, the nematode population decreases by 90-95 percent, compared to 80-90 percent for soil fumigation and 30-40 percent for a non-host crop rotation. Thus in 1985 our regulatory program adopted a four year crop rotation (requiring two years of a resistant variety) for infested fields, which is designed to keep populations below the probability of transmission. Since this program has been adopted there has been no spread of the GN to new New York state potato production areas. At stake here should the GN become wide-spread and its distribution unknown, is not only the loss of markets for the potato and tomato industries of New York ($80 million), but also many agricultural commodities grown on or in soil, including many vegetables, turf grass, nursery stock and potted plants, and when combined with the host crops, would represent a market value in excess of $250 million.

academic priority area

has geographic focus

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funding source description

  • Smith-Lever 3(b) & (c)
  • New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets
  • Department of Agriculture
  • Unrestricted funds
  • Special Grants
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collaborators

  • Penn State
  • Snack Food Association
  • United State Potato Board
  • University of Maine
  • USDA-ARS
  • Empire State Potato Growers, Inc.

key personnel

  • Eric Sandsted
  • Jeff Kelly
  • Randy McLaury

mission focus

From CALS annual faculty reporting. Imported on August 5, 2008