Research and Extension Programs
Jump to: Berry
Crops Extension | Nursery Crops Research
| Nursery Crops Extension |
| Vegetable Crops Research | Vegetable
Crops Extension | IPM Extension |
The Berry Crops Research Program Principal Investigator: Dr.
Bernadine Strik.
Research Assistant: Gil Buller
Research Technician, cooperative breeding program: Connie Pace
The berry research program focuses on production system research and
physiology of berry crops. Research on strawberry, blueberry, raspberry,
blackberry, hardy kiwifruit and minor berry crops is carried out at the
Center and grower cooperator sites.
- Main research focus areas include:
- whole plant physiology including yield components, flower bud initiation,
carbon partitioning
- alternative production systems that sustain or improve yield and quality
yet reduce costs
- cold hardiness of trailing blackberry
- improving machine-harvest efficiency
- nitrogen partitioning/nutrition
I am also the OSU lead on the cooperative OSU-USDA berry crop breeding
program (geneticist: Dr. Chad Finn, USDA/ARS, Corvallis) and coordinate
the evaluation of selections of strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, and
blueberry at the NWREC with the objective of finding new commercial cultivars
for the Pacific Northwest.
Current Research Projects:
Refer to the “Recent Accomplishments”
page of the WEB SITE please to avoid duplication
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Visit the Northwest Berry and Grape Information
Net, the best source of production and marketing information on blueberries,
blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and winegrapes in the Pacific
Northwest. Contains recent newsletters for each of these commodities.
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Nursery-grown ornamentals are Oregon's most valuable crop commodity.
The majority of Oregon's nurseries are located in the North Willamette
Valley, which has one of the highest concentrations of ornamental growers
in the United States. The nursery research program focuses on field and
container propagation and production systems and physiology of ornamental
crops. Principal investigators for Ornamental Crops located at the North
Willamette Research and Extension Center include: Richard Regan, Robin
Rosetta, James Altland, and Sven Svenson.
Current Research Projects
- Controlling Rooting-Out and Weed Growth in Sandbed Subirrigation Systems.
Investigator: Sven Svenson. Cooperators: D. Adams, NWREC; Mark Crawford,
Griffin Corporation, Valdosta, GA.
- Rooting and Ectomycorrhizal Inoculation of Woody Cuttings Using Subirrigation.
Investigator: Sven Svenson. Cooperators: Bob Linderman, USDA, Northwest
Nursery Crops Research Center, Corvallis, OR; Richard Regan, NWREC.
- Plant Evaluation and Development. Investigators: Sven Svenson and
Robert Ticknor.
- Resistance of Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) from Different
Geographic Sources to Herbicides Registered for Use on Container-grown
Nursery Stock. Investigator: Robert Ticknor.
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Recent Projects
- Evaluation of a Subirrigation Method to Root Cuttings. Investigator:
Richard Regan. Cooperator: W.M. Proebsting, Dept. of Horticulture, OSU-Corvallis.
- Shoot Dieback of Ash (Fraxinus spp.) in Oregon Nurseries.
Investigator: Richard Regan. Cooperators: R.L. Hummel, Puyallup R&E
Center, Washington State Univ.; Gary Parsons, Dept. of Entomology, Oregon
State Univ.; Melodie Putnam, Dept. of Bot. and Plant Pathology, Oregon
State Univ.; Robin Rosetta, NWREC.
- Effect of Chemical Root Pruning on Growth and Stress Tolerance of
Container-grown Plants. Investigator: Richard Regan. Cooperator: Sven
Svenson, NWREC.
- Verticillium Disease Risk Thresholds for Nursery Crops. Investigator:
Richard Regan. Cooperators: Bob Linderman, USDA, NWNCRC, Corvallis,
OR; Sven Svenson, NWREC.
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The vegetable research program focuses on crops and cultural problems
of growers west of the Cascade mountain range. The Willamette Valley of
western Oregon is an important production area for processed vegetables
such as sweet corn, green beans, and cucumbers, as well as onions, and
truck crops such as root crops, bunching greens, leaf crops, squash, and
rhubarb.
Current Research Projects
Most of the research is concerned with managing nitrogen fertilizer applications
to the major processing crops to avoid groundwater pollution, a problem
of increasing concern in the Willamette Valley as well as elsewhere in
the state. This research takes the form of examining crop response to
rates of applied N, to fertilizer placement, to timing of application
relative to harvest, to source of applied N, and the role of legumes in
replacing N fertilizers. As well as on-Center research, we work with individual
growers to survey nitrogen levels in their fields, both before and after
cropping, and to relate these levels to their cultural methods.
- Pre-sidedress soil and tissue testing for nitrogen in sweet corn as
related to initial N levels in the soil, rate of N applied at planting,
and rate of N applied at sidedressing.
- SPAD chlorophyll meter as a predictor of N needs in sweet corn.
- Utilization of waste organic materials as a fertilizer for sweet corn.
- Effect of winter cover crops -- both grain and legume -- and N rate
on yield of snap bean and sweet corn in a 10-year-old crop rotation
study.
- Effect of winter grain cover crops on leaching of N following sweet
corn.
- Long-term effects of winter cover crops on soil organic matter, pH,
enzyme activity, infiltration rate, pesticide degradation, and soil
microorganisms.
Another area of research is the effect of row spacing, N rate, rhizobium
inoculum, and variety on production and nutritional quality of edamame
(vegetable soybean).
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Much of the effort in this area concerns pesticide registration and re-registration
for minor crops. NWREC is a regional center for the IR-4 minor crops pesticide
program.
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Visit the IPM Extension web page.
Recent Programs
- Natural Enemy Complex of Honey Locust Pod Gall Midge (Dasineura
gleditchiae). Investigator: Robin Rosetta. Cooperators: P.B. Thompson,
Dept. Of Environmental Horticulture, U.C. Davis; M.P. Parella, Dept.
of Entomology, U.C. Davis; L. Ehler, Dept. of Entomology, U.C. Davis;
K. Warren, J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., Boring, OR.
- Biological Control of Whiteflies on Greenhouse Poinsettias. Investigator:
Robin Rosetta. Cooperators: P. Turnbull, Iwasaki Bros. Nurs., Hillsboro,
OR; R. Lapotin, Oregon Garden Products, Hillsboro, OR; J. Venzke, Clackamas
Greenhouses, Inc., Aurora, OR; B. Spencer, Applied Bionomics, Sidney,
B.C. Canada.
- Predatory Mite Releases in Ornamental Nurseries. Investigator: Robin
Rosetta. Cooperators: L. Tanigoshi, Dept. of Entomology, Washington
State Univ.; R. Regan, NWREC; A. Elliott, Carlton Plants, Dayton, OR;
G. Meriweather, Iseli Nursery, Boring, OR; K. Warren, J. Frank Schmidt
& Son, Boring, OR.
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