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Susan Brown and Kevin Maloney thought they had a winner on their hands when they took their very first bite of an apple seedling that would eventually be named SnapDragon. Proof came earlier this year, when the apple won the outstanding cultivar...

Plant geneticists have identified a mutation in a gene that causes the “weeping” architecture – branches growing downwards – in apple trees, a finding that could improve orchard fruit production.

Brown leads the oldest apple breeding program in the United States, located at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York, part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her work supports the state’s robust apple industry — valued at $262...

Kevin Maloney is a research specialist who works in the apple breeding program at Cornell AgriTech , part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences . Maloney has worked on the Geneva campus for 35 years, where he has been collaborating...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a $779,000 grant to Cornell AgriTech researchers to combat fire blight, one of the most devastating bacterial diseases for the apple and pear industries...

On Sept. 2, Susan Brown , the Herman M. Cohn Professor of Agriculture and Life Science, and research specialist Kevin Maloney announced the release of NY56, NY73 and NY109 – marketed as Cordera, Pink Luster and Firecracker, respectively. As an...

Our plant breeders are known for their innovative work in creating new varieties of fruits and vegetables. Developing these varieties is a complex yet creative process, and getting the varieties onto supermarket shelves also requires a tremendous amount of effort. Susan Brown, professor of horticulture, and Phillip Griffiths, associate professor of horticulture, explain how they bring the varieties they develop from seed to supermarket.

In New York, apples are big business: the state’s 600 commercial growers produce an average of 30 million bushels annually, making it the second-largest apple producer in the U.S. But growing apples isn’t easy, and much has changed since Cornell...