a rack of small laboratory tubes in a rack next to a cluster of purple grapes and a pair of hands holding one tube filled with dark purple liquid

Hudson Valley Research Highlights

Disease and Pest Management

Focus on fruit tree crops, small berries, and vegetables, with emphasis on apple, pear, peach, and grapevines.
  • Decision support and education for integrated pest management: Pesticide and fungicide efficacy; on-demand, cloud-based decision support technology; invasive insect monitoring; seasonal plant phenology tracking.
  • Focus on how off-peak stressors and management practices (such as resistant cultivars, drought, low temperatures, and bactericides) effect the population and virulence of Fire Blight in apples during the growing season.
Green leaves with a large brown insect on them

Horticulture and Modern Orchard Management:

  • Plant propagation; rootstock and cultivar selection; planting systems, cultivation, and management practices to improve yields, quality, and profitability of tree fruit and grapes.
  • Focus on resistance to insects and diseases, as well as mitigating practices for environmental stresses (late frost, sunburn damage, drought).
  • Refinement of precision irrigation, pruning, and thinning techniques for crop load and canopy management in high density planting systems.
  • New planting and training systems for sweet cherry to lower costs and ease harvest.
A harvesting tractor in front of extensive grapevines

Developing Signature Wine Grapes for the Hudson Valley

  • Clonal and rootstock trials to select Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir cultivars best suited for the region’s climate, soils, and sites.
  • Sustainable methods to address most common issues of Vitis vinifera vineyard management in the Northeast.
  • Grapevine cold hardiness monitoring for bud mortality predictions and spring pruning estimations.
Grapevines with light green grapes

Plant Protection and Sustainability

  • Partnership with CALS for testing new Cornell-developed apple varieties.
  • Organic agriculture research focusing on disease-resistant cultivars and biological controls (e.g., predatory insects, traps).
  • Guidance for revitalizing private and commercial heirloom orchards.
  • Gleaning excess farm produce for local food rescue and distribution.
Bins of red apples, people and trees in the background