Project Grant 20235130040855

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** DIVERSIFIED FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GROWERS ARE A HALLMARK OF THE ORGANIC AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY AND MOVEMENT. DIVERSIFICATION OPENS MARKET OPPORTUNITIES, HEDGES RISKS, CONSERVES BIODIVERSITY, AND GROWS HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL ECONOMIES. AT THE SAME TIME, DIVERSIFIED ORGANIC GROWERS MUST MASTER THE PRODUCTION OF MANY SPECIALTY CROPS WITH A LIMITED SET OF TOOLS TO COMBAT PESTS, DISEASES, WEEDS, AND A CHANGING CLIMATE. SOME OF THESE TOOLS, LIKE OMRI (ORGANIC MATERIALS REVIEW INSTITUTE)-LISTED PESTICIDES PERFORM SUB-OPTIMALLY AND FAIL TO REDUCE DAMAGE FROM PESTS AND DISEASES. MOUNTING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS MESOTUNNEL PROTECTION SYSTEMS LIMIT PESTS, DISEASES, AND SOME EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS. HOWEVER, WHILE MESOTUNNELS REDUCE THE USE OF OMRI-LISTED PESTICIDES, CONSUMER CONCERNS OVER PLASTIC USE IN AGRICULTURE MAY PRESENT NEW SOCIAL CHALLENGES TO THE ADOPTION OF THESE PLASTIC-BASED SYSTEMS. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS FOUR-YEAR PROJECT IS TO EXPAND THE ORGANIC TOOL KIT TO OVERCOME BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC CHALLENGES TO SPECIALTY CROPS IN THE SOUTHEAST, MIDWEST, AND NORTHEAST. FIELD EXPERIMENTS AND ON-FARM TRIALS WITH BRASSICA (GREENS, BROCCOLI), CUCURBIT (MELONS AND SQUASH), AND SOLANACEOUS CROPS (EGGPLANT) WILL OPTIMIZE THE USE OF MESOTUNNEL PROTECTION SYSTEMS TO CONTROL BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC STRESSORS (OBJECTIVE 1). INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES TO INCORPORATE MESOTUNNELS INTO DIVERSIFIED ORGANIC FRUIT AND VEGETABLE ROTATIONS WILL AIM TO MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS TO GROWERS IN EACH REGION. DATA GENERATED FROM EXPERIMENTS WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE WHICH MESOTUNNEL-CROP COMBINATIONS MAXIMIZE GROWER PROFITS (OBJECTIVE 2). TO UNDERSTAND MARKETING, POLICY, AND ADOPTION BARRIERS, WE WILL ASSESS GROWER AND CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY OF MESOTUNNELS THROUGH SURVEYS, INTERVIEWS, AND CONSUMER PREFERENCE EXPERIMENTS (OBJECTIVE 3). GROWERS AND INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS WILL PROVIDE CONTINUOUS INPUT TO GUIDE THE PROJECT THROUGH AN ADVISORY PANEL, SURVEYS, LISTENING SESSIONS, AND ON-FARM TRIALS. FINALLY, A COORDINATED REGIONAL AND NATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAM WILL REACH THOUSANDS OF GROWERS AND MILLIONS OF CONSUMERS TO HIGHLIGHT THE MOST PROMISING PROTECTION SYSTEMS (OBJECTIVE 4). TOGETHER, THESE OBJECTIVES ADDRESS FIVE OREI GOALS AND WILL HELP THE ORGANIC SPECIALTY CROP INDUSTRY TO GROW RESILIENT TO CHANGING CLIMATES AND CONSUMER DEMANDS TO INSURE THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE ORGANIC INDUSTRY.