A241314S003S
TOMATOES BRED FOR UNIFORM RIPENING, HIGH YIELD, AND DISEASE RESISTANCE OFTEN LACK FRESH EATING AND THE NUTRITIONAL QUALITY CUSTOMERS PREFER (POWELL ET AL., 2012). HEIRLOOM AND OPEN-POLLINATED TOMATOES ARE PERCEIVED TO HAVE BETTER FLAVOR AND ARE PRIZED FOR THEIR ECLECTIC COLORS BUT ARE PERCEIVED AS LOW-YIELDING, SOFT FRUIT THAT IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO BRUISING, SPLITTING AND DISEASE, AND HAVING A LIMITED SHELF LIFE (HEALY ET AL., 2017; HOAGLAND ET AL., 2015; HOAGLAND ET AL., 2014; COOLONG ET AL., 2009). ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IS CONSIDERED AS A NATURAL FARMING SYSTEM AND MOST SUSTAINABLE LOW INPUT MODEL AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE INHERENT ADVERSE ASSOCIATION WITH CHEMICALS IN THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM. SUCH AGRICULTURAL METHOD ADHERES TO ECOLOGICAL, AND SELF-SUSTAINING ABILITY OF THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM THROUGH LOW INPUT, AND PREVENTIVE, CONSERVATION PRACTICES (E.G., NATURAL PEST CONTROL AND BIOTIC INTERACTIONS IN SOIL FERTILITY) AS COMPARED TO HIGH EXTERNAL INPUTS (LAMPKIN, 1990). THE PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE ARE CENTERED ON MAINTAINING A SUSTAINABLE BIODIVERSITY WITHIN LOCAL ECOSYSTEMS, AND GREATER INTEGRATION OF CROP AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTIONS SYSTEMS (LAMMERTS VAN BUEREN ET AL., 2011; MADER ET AL., 2002). IN 2018, ORGANIC TOMATO BREEDING PROGRAM WAS STARTED AT CERTIFIED ORGANIC FIELD, SPADRA FARM, CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA, CA. WITH THE COLLABORATION FROM ORGANIC SEED ALLIANCE COMPANY (OSA) AND THEY PROVIDED THE SEED MATERIAL. THE FIRST PLANTING WAS DONE IN JUNE 2018 TO EVALUATE THE TOMATO GERMPLASM AND TO DEVELOP F2 PROGENY FROM THE F1 POPULATION, THE PLANTS WERE EVALUATED FOR FRUIT COLOR, SHAPE AND SIZES. SEED MATERIAL FROM OSA (ORGANIC SEED ALLIANCE COMPANY) AND UCD (UC DAVIS) ARE CONTINUING TO BE EVALUATED FOR THEIR PERFORMANCES IN SOUTHERN CA AND TO COMPARE WITH NORTHERN CA CLIMATE. NOW, IN THE PROPOSED PROJECT, THE SELECTION WILL CONTINUE TO PERFORM AT F6 AND FURTHER GENERATIONS TO IDENTIFY SUPERIOR LINES THAT CAN BE USED TO DEVELOP NEW LINES FOR SOCAL CLIMATE FOR FRESH MARKET AND/OR PROCESSING TOMATOES IN ORGANIC PRODUCTION. THE GOAL IS TO DEVELOP INBRED LINES THAT COMBINE TRAITS ASSOCIATED WITH HEIRLOOM VARIETIES ( E.G., OUTSTANDING, OR UNIQUE FLAVOR, ATTRACTIVE COLORS, AND SHAPES) WITH IMPROVED HORTICULTURAL TRAITS ( E.G., HIGHER MARKETABLE YIELD, REDUCED FRUIT CRACKING, DISEASE RESISTANCE, BETTER GROWTH HABIT), ESPECIALLY FOR PRODUCTION IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. IN 2020-2022, ON-FARM TRIALS WERE CONDUCTED, AND OUTSTANDING LINES WERE SELECTED FROM 2018 MATERIAL AND EARLY GENERATION POPULATIONS AT CAL POLY POMONA. IN THIS PROPOSAL, WE WILL CONTINUE TO ADVANCE AND EVALUATE SELECTIONS ABOVE FOR FIELD PERFORMANCE AND FRUIT QUALITY IN TRIALS AT CPP FOR THE BEST PERFORMING LINES THAT COULD LEAD INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTIVARS. THE HARVESTED FRUITS WILL BE MARKETED AT THE FARM STORE AND DATA IS COLLECTED ON THE CONSUMER'S PREFERENCES. WE ALSO EXPECT TO DEFINE HETEROTIC GROUPS AND CREATE POPULATIONS TO ESTABLISH A HYBRID BREEDING PROGRAM FOR ORGANIC TOMATO PRODUCTION THAT COMBINES FLAVOR, QUALITY, AND YIELD. IN CONJUNCTION WITH UC DAVIS, CROSSES WILL BE MADE WITH A NC II DIALLEL DESIGN BETWEEN HEIRLOOM LINES AND LINES DERIVED FROM COMMERCIAL HYBRIDS. PARENTS WITH HIGH GENERAL COMBINING ABILITY WILL BE USED TO ESTABLISH TESTERS FOR MALE AND FEMALE SIDES TO ESTABLISH A RECIPROCAL RECURRENT SELECTION PROGRAM. TESTCROSSES WILL BE EVALUATED IN REPLICATED TRIALS BEGINNING IN YEAR 3 AND EXTENDING BEYOND THIS THE PROPOSAL, WITH SELECTIONS ADVANCED TO PRODUCE THE BEST HYBRIDS FOR THE ABOVE TRAITS. MARKER ASSISTED SELECTION WILL BE USED TO IDENTIFY PARENTS TO COMBINE ALLELES FOR DISEASE RESISTANCE. THROUGH ORGANIC TOMATO BREEDING AT CPP TOMATO LINES FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, THAT ARE LOCALLY ADAPTED, AND HIGHER YIELDING AND TOLERANT TO BIOTIC/ABIOTIC STRESSES WHILE PROVIDING TRAINING AND EDUCATION TO THE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS, ARE THE OBJECTIVES OF ORGANIC TOMATO BREEDING PROGRAM AT CPP.
CAL Poly Pomona Foundation Inc.
Project Grant 20235130040963
$100.0k 3/22/24 A241314S001S
A. ORGANIZE FARMER AND SEED COMPANY STAKEHOLDER SUMMITS OSA MANAGES A NETWORK OF ORGANIC SEED PRODUCERS AND SEED COMPANIES IN CALIFORNIA, WITH OVER 80 COMMERCIAL ORGANIC SEED PRODUCERS AND DISTRIBUTORS WITHIN OSAÂ S CALIFORNIA ORGANIC SEED WORKING GROUP, AND OVER 1,000 ORGANIC FARMERS, RESEARCHERS, FOOD COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES, AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS BEING PART OF OSAÂ S CALIFORNIA CONTACT DATABASE. EACH YEAR THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF THIS PROJECT, OSA WILL ORGANIZE ORGANIC SEED PRODUCERS, SEED COMPANIES, FARMERS, FOOD COMPANIES, AND OTHER KEY STAKEHOLDERS TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND DIRECTIONS AND TO HELP DEVELOP NEW BREEDING PROJECTS TO SERVE THE ORGANIC COMMUNITY. THESE MEETINGS WILL BE HELD IN THE SACRAMENTO / DAVIS AREA IN CONJUNCTION WITH OSAÂ S TWO-DAY CALIFORNIA ORGANIC SEED SUMMIT. B. SUPPORT TRIALS AND INTERNSHIPS IN EACH YEAR OF THE PROJECT, TRIALS WILL BE CONDUCTED ON COMMERCIAL ORGANIC FARMS IN CALIFORNIA. THESE TRIALS WILL SUPPORT THE ORGANIC BREEDING ACTIVITIES IN SCOPE. INCORPORATING ON-FARM TRIALS AND USING A PARTICIPATORY BREEDING SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE MULTIPLE BENEFITS TO THIS PROJECTÂ S BREEDING EFFORTS. FIRST, THEY WILL BE ADDITIONAL TEST ENVIRONMENTS, WITH DIFFERENT CLIMATES AND CULTURAL PRACTICES THAN THE UNIVERSITIESÂ RESEARCH FARMS, ALLOWING THE IDENTIFICATION OF MORE WIDELY ADAPTED MATERIAL. SECOND, THESE TRIALS WILL ALLOW THE BREEDERS IN THE PROJECT TO LEVERAGE THE EXPERTISE OF COOPERATING ORGANIC FARMERS TO IDENTIFY SPECIFIC TRAITS OF IMPORTANCE AND TO IDENTIFY EXPERIMENTAL MATERIAL WITH NICHES POTENTIALLY UNKNOWN TO THE BREEDERS. THIRD, ON-FARM TRIALS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF ADOPTION OF NEW VARIETIES, SINCE THE INVOLVEMENT OF COOPERATING FARMERS PROVIDES THE RELEASED MATERIAL A CERTAIN DEGREE OF LEGITIMACY AMONG PEER FARMERS. ORGANIC SEED ALLIANCE (OSA) WILL IDENTIFY THE COOPERATIVE FARMERS BASED ON FARMER EXPERTISE AND INTEREST IN THE CROP, AN ASSESSMENT OF THE FARMERSÂ CAPACITY TO SUCCESSFULLY PARTICIPATE IN TRIALS, AND ON THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE LOCATION AS A TEST SITE. IN ADDITION, OSA WILL IDENTIFY FARMS AND SEED COMPANIES THAT CAN HOST STUDENT INTERNS, UTILIZING OSAÂ S CONTACT NETWORK TO FIND WILLING INTERN HOSTS THAT MATCH STUDENT NEEDS BASED ON LOCATION, CROP PORTFOLIO, AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES. C. SUPPORT VARIETY COMMERCIALIZATION AND SEED PRODUCTION WITH ORGANIC SEED COMPANIES AS THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DIRECTLY BENEFIT ORGANIC AGRICULTURE BY DEVELOPING SUPERIOR VARIETIES ADAPTED TO ORGANIC AGRICULTURE, IT IS CRITICAL THAT THE MATERIALS BEING DEVELOPED HAVE A PIPELINE TO COMMERCIALIZATION. OSA HAS STRONG PARTNERSHIPS WITH ORGANIC SEED COMPANIES AND HAS DEVELOPED A COMMERCIAL RELEASE PROCESS FOR ORGANICALLY BRED VARIETIES COMING OUT OF PARTICIPATORY BREEDING PROGRAMS SUCH AS NOVIC (2010-03392 AND 2014-05402), TOMI (2014-05405 AND 2019-03080) AND CIOA (2011-01962). OSA WILL CONTINUE IN THE ROLE STARTED IN SCOPE I BY FACILITATING REGULAR COMMUNICATIONS WITH REGIONAL AND NATIONAL ORGANIC SEED COMPANIES AND WITH THE PROJECT MANAGER. OSA WILL ENSURE THAT COMPANIES: ARE AWARE OF THE SPECIFIC BREEDING PROJECTS, KNOW OF OPPORTUNITIES TO VIEW MATERIAL IN THE FIELD THAT MAY HAVE A PLACE IN THE COMPANIES PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE, ARE ABLE TO HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO TEST LATER GENERATION BREEDING MATERIAL IN THEIR OWN TRIALS, AND WILL BE ABLE TO EXECUTE AGREEMENTS THAT ALLOW THEM TO PRODUCE AND DISTRIBUTE THE SEED INTO THE ORGANIC MARKETPLACE. D. SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC PLANT BREEDING, VARIETY TRIAL, AND SEED PRODUCTION EDUCATIONAL MODULES FOR SCOPE STUDENTS. ORGANIC SEED ALLIANCE HAS A LONG HISTORY OF DEVELOPING AND DELIVERING EDUCATION AROUND ORGANIC PLANT BREEDING, PARTICIPATORY VARIETY TRIALING AND ORGANIC SEED PRODUCTION, INCLUDING HOSTING A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL ORGANIC SEED PRODUCTION COURSE AND INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BEGINNING FARMER RANCHER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (BFRDP WN.W-2015-04745 AND WN.W-2019-03597).
Organic Seed Alliance
Project Grant 20235130040963
$47.9k 3/18/24