Thomas Björkman

• Developmental processes that make vegetables valuable or interesting
• Root growth and interactions with soil biota
• Cover crop integration in vegetable cropping systems

A major are of applied research is in the mechanism whereby cover crops can overcome limitations in soil quality and contribute to weed management in vegetable production systems. Significant funding was obtained in 2009 to develop multi-institutional programs to this end.

My basic research focuses on how development is arrested in the inflorescence of Brassica oleracea. A superb model system for this process is broccoli, a close relative of the well-studied Arabidopsis, and, with cauliflower, an extreme expression of such developmental arrest. Furthermore, precise control of this arrest is a critical management issue for a billion-dollar part of the vegetable industry. My lab investigates the role of homeotic genes believed to control developmental transition during this process.

My related applied research involves facilitating selection for broccoli that consistently avoids premature arrest that is normally induced by high temperatures during the main growing season. Major funding was received in 2010 for and integrated project to establish an eastern broccoli industry based on new varieties derived from these selections.

Publications

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Extension and outreach

I am the primary contact for cover crop use in vegetable production. The intensity of vegetable production necessitates active soil improvement regimes. Cover crops play an essential role in soil improvement as well as pest and weed management and biological nitrogen fertilization. Introduction of cover crops requires a systemic analysis of production systems, their constraints and limitations. Outreach on soil improving aspects are designed to fill prescriptions produced by the Cornell Soil Health Test. This work is particularly valued by the rapidly growing organic industry. Current new outreach activity focuses on the use of short cycle cover crops during the growing season, which is a useful practice for which guidelines have not yet been established. Supporting my extension work, I do applied research on physiology of summer cover crops in relation to their competitiveness against weeds, and their ability to improve soil condition. I also lead the extension for buckwheat grain production, and am a resource for non-pathogenic storage disorders in cabbage.

• Fellow (2017) American Society for Horticultural Science
• Fellow (2012) Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future

• PLHRT 9900: Doctoral Dissertation Research