Horticulture Section News

CALS News, Spotlights, Field Notes and FutureCasts of interest to the Horticulture Section community in the School of Integrative Plant Science.

The latest news ...

soft robot gripper with strawberry

News

Handle with care: Soft robot gripper picks ripe fruit without bruising

Cornell researchers used stretchable fiber-optic sensors to create a soft robot gripper that can predict the ripeness of strawberries by touch, then pick them without causing any damage.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
  • Fruits
A monarch butterfly on milkweed.

News

Seed research is key to pollinator habitat restoration 
Monarch butterflies and other pollinators are essential to ecosystems and agriculture, supporting the reproduction of flowering plants and the production of fruits and vegetables. But decades of habitat loss, pesticide use and the disappearance...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
sitko talking to class on athletic field

Field Note

Chris Sitko modernizes sports field management at Cornell
From premier golf courses in New England to research fields in Ithaca, New York, Chris Sitko has spent his career cultivating safe and high-performing playing surfaces. Now in his role as manager of golf facilities and sports turf at Cornell...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
mowing green test plots

Field Note

Research drives sustainable turf management
In 2025, evidence-based turf solutions from Cornell’s Bluegrass Lane research center and field sites across New York advanced environmentally sound athletic field and golf course management. The turfgrass program at Cornell University continues...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section
Three bowls of cherry tomatoes in red, green and orange colors

News

‘Galaxy’ of grape tomatoes shines with three new varieties

Three varieties join the “Galaxy Suite” of grape tomatoes, a snack-sized Cornell-bred medley.

  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Horticulture Section

Land Acknowledgment

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ people, past and present, to these lands and waters.

This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ leadership. Learn more from the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program website.