A cornucopia of research supports New York’s farms and food systems

Since the dawn of agriculture 12,000 years ago, humans have been saving seeds from their best-performing crops to re-plant the following season. While plant breeders today use far more sophisticated techniques, the concept is the same: improving plant quality, yields and resistance to threats like disease and drought. 

Michael Gore, professor and section head of Plant Breeding and Genetics in SIPS, breeds sweet corn for the Northeast, aiming for improved cold tolerance, earlier maturation for a shorter growing season and higher nutrition. For example, Gore is working to increase nutrient density in fresh sweet corn kernels, especially for vitamins E and A, iron, zinc and certain antioxidants. 

Gore uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to help him analyze plant genetics, genomics and phenomics, to understand the genetic basis of the traits he’s seeking and predict their performance in different environments. Then he uses that information to choose candidate seeds for greenhouse and field testing. 

“My hope is to contribute to improved food and nutritional security in the U.S. and throughout the world,” said Gore, who was recently awarded the Public Sector Impact Award by the The National Association for Plant Breeding. “If we can improve the sustainability of agricultural production by breeding varieties that use resources more efficiently while producing more nutrient-dense food, we can increase farm profitability, decrease hunger and improve the health of both people and the planet. That’s always been my driving passion.”

Greg Vogel, assistant professor of plant breeding and genetics, worked at a vegetable farm in Pennsylvania when an epidemic of late blight decimated tomato crops across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in 2009. Late blight – the disease caused by the same pathogen responsible for the Irish potato famine – wiped out millions of dollars worth of tomatoes within a few weeks. 

“It was unbelievable to watch the devastation happen. Tomatoes were one of the biggest crops grown on the farm where I worked, so they were very concerned about their ability to survive this,” Vogel said. “I got to see first-hand the kinds of impacts that a plant disease can have on the ability of farmers to survive and be profitable. So when it comes to breeding for resistance, it's something that means a lot to me.”

Vogel aims to breed tomatoes with resistance to multiple diseases, building in part off the work of recently retired Martha Mutschler-Chu, professor emeritus of plant breeding and genetics. Tomatoes are notoriously susceptible to plant diseases, especially in rainy, humid areas like the Northeast. Commercial growers often have to spray their plantings every week to keep pests and diseases at bay. So much spraying costs growers time and money, and it increases the risk of negative impacts on off-target species, like pollinators. New varieties with natural resistance would support grower livelihoods and reduce environmental impacts.

Even the best varieties can struggle without appropriate management practices. Researchers are uncovering strategies to improve quality at harvest and in storage, detect risks earlier and recruit natural allies. 

Lailiang Cheng, professor in SIPS’ horticulture section, helps apple growers mitigate risk and maximize quality in their orchards. For example, Honeycrisp apples are highly vulnerable to bitter pit, a physiological disorder caused primarily by an imbalance of potassium and calcium in fruits. Bitter pit frequently doesn’t appear until after harvest, causing great uncertainty and potential economic losses for growers. Cheng developed a strategy – fruit peel sap analysis – to test fruits for bitter pit risk much earlier in the growing season, so growers can take corrective measures before it’s too late. 

He’s also working with his colleagues Jason Londo, Kenong Xu and Terence Robinson, to develop strategies to help apple growers cope with temperature fluctuations that are becoming more common in a changing climate: spring frosts that can kill blooms and too-warm summers that interfere with color development at ripening. 

Clare Casteel, associate professor in SIPS’ Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, studies interactions between plants and soil microbiomes, particularly seeking management strategies that can protect plants from insects and insect-borne diseases while reducing pesticide use. Working with a network of 85 organic farmers in New York, Casteel is formally testing practices that farmers believe to be important in reducing damage to snap and dry beans through soil microbiome changes.

“Plants have different ways of inducing resilience to pathogens, insects, drought and other threats, and in some cases, they work together with beneficial microbes to enhance these responses.” Casteel said. Her lab determined that particular agricultural practices can support soil microbial communities that promote plant defenses and reduce insect pests.  “What we’re finding is that adoption of certain farming practices leads to predictable changes in the soil microbiome and functions in plant defense. But not all practices are equally beneficial for soil microbes, and different practices promote different types of plant resilience through changes in the microbiome. This suggests farmers could select particular practices depending on their pest pressures to recruit the microbes they need into the soil before they plant their cash crops.”

For roughly 400 million years, the soil-dwelling arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been working symbiotically with land plants. Plants provide the fungi with sugars and carbohydrates, and in return, the beneficial fungi strengthen plant root systems and deliver water and minerals, increasing growth and resilience to stressors like drought, disease, heavy metal contamination and extreme temperatures. 

Justine Vanden Heuvel, professor in SIPS’ Horticulture Section, seeks to make grape-growing and winemaking more sustainable, economically and environmentally. Inspired by feedback from New York growers, Vanden Heuvel began studying the relationships between AMF and grapevines five years ago. AMF soil amendments are already commercially available, but they can be very expensive: over $1,000 per acre in some cases. Vanden Heuvel’s initial findings show that AMF can increase vine resilience, boost yields and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers – but only in certain soil types. She and her collaborators have also found that benefits from AMF amendments wane over time. 

“The soil microbiome is vast and diverse, and it may either collaborate nicely with the new fungi, or it may compete and kill off the fungi right away,” Vanden Heuvel said. “We really want to figure out the right prescription for growers: when and where will these fungi be worth your money, and how often do they need to be applied?”

Gaurav Moghe, assistant professor in SIPS’ Plant Biology Section, wants to improve the feasibility of sweet potato cultivation in New York, and is studying the role that AMF could play. Most U.S. sweet potatoes are grown in the South, but a warming climate and the possibility of organic cultivation creates a novel opportunity for northern growers. New York has no natural pathogens of sweet potatoes, but shorter, colder growing seasons are a challenge. Early experiments have shown that adding AMF to soil, especially in low-phosphate conditions, improves yields, drought tolerance and cold resistance. 

“Sweet potato production in New York is small but growing rapidly: the number of growers has more than doubled in the last decade,” Moghe said. “Orange and purple-fleshed sweet potatoes have great nutritional quality and natural pigmentation. In addition to selling vegetables directly, growers could access a higher value chain by selling small sweet potatoes for food colorings and dyes, and potentially even for textiles.” 

Since its founding in 1879, Cornell AES has devoted itself to improving the health and welfare of people and our planet. Cornell AES Director Smith said: “Our goal is to address the challenges facing growers and find solutions that can ensure plentiful harvests for generations to come.”

Krisy Gashler is a freelance writer for the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (Cornell AES).