A smoothroot sugarbeet could help growers lighten their load at harvest and still collect more profits. The grooved taproot of conventional sugarbeets is an ideal place for soil to cling. Growers and processors must treat harvested sugarbeets roughly to remove this excess soil. This usually results in bruising, which lowers the beets' sugar content and encourages spoilage in storage. Also, processors must deal with excess soil from the roots as waste. A smoother sugarbeet taproot means less soil clings to the beet when it's pulled from the ground--and less damage to the beet in soil removal efforts. In tests, the harvested smoothroot sugarbeet carried along 70 percent less clinging soil than conventional sugarbeets. Sugarbeets are a million-dollar industry, with production concentrated primarily in California, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming.
Sugarbeet and Bean Research Laboratory, East Lansing, MI
Joe Saunders, (517) 355-9280

A quirk of nature may someday provide an inexpensive biofuel or improve the production of man-made fertilizers. Some soil microorganisms use enzymes that contain iron or iron and vanadium, elements naturally present in the soil, to convert nitrogen in the atmosphere into a form plants can use for growth. Hydrogen that's produced in the nitrogen-conversion process--but not used by the plants--could be collected and put to work as a biofuel, scientists say. Another plus: Bacteria that use iron in this process could provide clues as to how iron might serve as a catalyst in making nitrogen fertilizers. Current ammonium fertilizer production uses extremely high temperatures and pressure, a process that requires lots of fossil fuel. An alternative process could lower costs and preserve fuel.
Soybean and Nitrogen Conservation Laboratory, Raleigh, NC
Paul Bishop, (919) 515-3770

Kanza is a new pecan variety that produces high-quality nuts ready for sale at premium prices before other varieties can reach the market. Next year, growers nationwide as far north as Kansas will begin planting Kanza, developed by researchers with ARS and state experiment stations in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Kanza pecans could be ready for harvest as early as September 10 in southern Texas and by late September in Kansas. Other early-season cultivars could be used to pollinate hybrid nuts from Kanza as it is the first pecan developed since 1976 that produces receptive female flowers before it produces pollen from male flowers. The tree is cold-tolerant and will require less pesticide to control diseases such as scab, fungal leaf scorch, and leaf and stem phylloxera. In 1995, approximately 268 million pounds of pecans were produced nationally with a value of about $272 million.
Crop Germplasm Research, College Station, TX
Tommy E. Thompson, (409) 272-1402

A new pecan variety called "Creek" can produce marketable nuts within five years after planting, giving growers in Southeastern states up to two years' head start on profits. Developed by researchers with ARS and the state experiment stations of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas, Creek has an important environmentally-friendly trait: natural resistance to a common fungal disease called scab. Nuts produced by Creek are large enough to be sold in shell or shelled to produce attractive kernel halves. Pecans are a multimillion-dollar industry that provides income for rural landowners with orchards or woodlands pasture.
Crop Germplasm Research, College Station, TX
Tommy E. Thompson, (409) 272-1402

Farmers who plant winter wheat in rotation with sunflowers could reap about 12 bushels more wheat per acre on the Central Great Plains. ARS researchers say the key is to leave 2-foot high sunflower stalks standing after harvest rather than chopping them down to the ground level. The taller stalks help trap drifting snow, reduce wind erosion, and slow the evaporation of moisture in the soil. This results in soil trapping up to 3 more inches of moisture for the wheat. Then, after an 11-month fallow period, farmers should use minimum tillage to seed winter wheat through the sunflower plant residue. Winter wheat plants sprout and grow in the fall, go dormant during winter and resume growing in spring. After the wheat is harvested in July, its stubble protects soil for 11 months just like the sunflower stalks did. Sunflowers are then planted the following June for harvest that October. Scientists say such a practice results in farmers getting 2 crops every 3 years versus one wheat crop every other year produced in the traditional wheat-fallow system.
Central Great Plains Research Station, Akron, CO
David C. Nielsen, (970) 345-2259

Growers of Austrian winter peas can now obtain a new ARS-developed variety that outperforms current varieties of this soil-boosting "green manure" crop. Though a close relative of snap peas, Austrian winter peas are generally not grown as a food commodity because the seed coats contain unappealing pigments. In the United States, most winter peas are grown in the Southeast. Farmers plant the crop in the fall and plow under the nitrogen-rich plants in the spring to supply nitrogen and other nutrients for peanuts, cotton and other summer crops. Most of the seed supplies are grown in the Pacific Northwest. Some seed is exported to Asia for use as pigeon feed or a confectionary paste known as "an" (pronounced "on"). The new variety, named Granger, has a unique growth habit that helps the plant resist disease. That's why the new variety yields about 20 percent more seeds than other Austrian winter peas. Typical winter pea plants have two to three sets of leaflets along the stem. As leaves and pods grow heavy, they pull the vines to the ground. Mold and fungal diseases thrive in the resulting moist mat. But Granger has few or no leaves. Instead, the plant sends out extra tendrils. These wind around neighboring plants, creating a 5-foot-tall plant "wall" that keeps Granger dry and off the ground, safer from the disease organisms.
Legume Genetics and Physiology Research Unit, Pullman, WA
Frederick J. Muehlbauer, (509) 335-9521

Two new ryegrass lines may bring scientists closer to understanding how grasses develop genetic resistance to weed-killing chemicals. The new lines have high tolerance to diclofop-methyl, known in the United States by the trade name Hoelon. This herbicide is registered to control grass weeds in broadleaf and cereal crops. In western Oregon, ryegrass is not only a major turf and forage crop but also one of the worst weeds of winter wheat. Weedy wheat fields can produce 40 to 50 percent less grain than uninfested fields. The grass weeds can become almost completely resistant to diclofop in as little as three years. Understanding the biological mechanism of resistance would help scientists develop better controls for this and other grass weeds. The ARS scientists have already showed that ryegrass' chemical resistance is controlled by only one or two genes. Studying how resistance developed has been difficult because researchers have lacked populations of resistant and susceptible plants that were otherwise identical. Researchers can now make comparisons using the new lines. ARS scientists developed them from selections from Gulf and Marshall ryegrass varieties. Small quantities of seed of the new lines, ORARHR-G93 and ORARHR-M93, are available to researchers.
National Forage Seed Production Research Center, Corvallis, OR
Reed E. Barker, (541) 750-8722

A greenhouse-sized fungus attack is helping researchers understand what happens when Aspergillus flavus fungi strike in cotton fields. Conditions in the greenhouse are kept warm and dry--the type of environment favored by A. flavus, which produces a potent toxin called aflatoxin. Aflatoxin doesn't affect cotton quality or fiber safety. But cottonseed--a valuable product of the cotton crop--can't be used in food or feed if it contains more than 20 parts per billion of alfatoxin. Researchers hope to uncover contributing factors behind A. flavus outbreaks, such as wind.
Food and Feed Safety Research, New Orleans, LA
Maren Klich, (504) 286-4361

Growing broccoli in a new, no-till system of soybean mulch cuts chemical use, eliminates soil erosion and conserves water while maintaining yields. ARS scientists grew a high-nitrogen forage soybean variety to a height of about 5 feet. Then they cut or flattened the plants to form a mulch to cover the soil before planting broccoli seedlings. The thick thatch keeps down weeds and holds moisture while enriching the soil with organic matter and protecting it from erosion. Under this new system, more broccoli could be grown in the mid-Atlantic states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina where soils are highly erodible and the terrain is sharply sloped. In California, where about 88 percent of U.S. broccoli is grown, the crop is directly seeded in bare soil and requires two to three chemical treatments to kill weeds, the major cause of broccoli crop losses. Per capita consumption of broccoli in the United States in 1996 reached almost 6 pounds, in contrast to 1.5 pounds in 1970. Broccoli is high in vitamins and dietary fiber and rich in sulforaphane, a compound associated with reduced risk of breast cancer. Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA, collaborated with ARS on the soybean mulch-broccoli studies.
Vegetable Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
Aref A. Abdul-Baki, (301) 504-5057
Weed Science Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
John R. Teasdale, (301) 504-5504

A simple new field test tells Louisiana sugarcane producers within six hours whether their crop is infested with leaf scald bacterium--even when the crop shows no symptoms. The test costs about $2. It uses a diagnostic technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify bacteria on plant leaves by telltale bits of DNA. The test has been adopted by Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Sugarcane Research, Houma, LA
Yong Bao Pan, (504) 872-5042

The same kinds of natural proteins that regulate human hormone secretion and blood vessel constriction also have a hand in determining how much nitrogen fertilizer crops can use, ARS researchers have discovered. These proteins, called 14.3.3 proteins, represent an important on-off switch in plants. Plants contain an enzyme called nitrate reductase. This enzyme can turn fertilizer's nitrate into nitrite. During daylight hours, the plant uses the sun's energy to convert the nitrite into amino acids the plant needs for survival. But at night, without the energy source, the nitrite can accumulate in the plant and kill it. The 14.3.3 proteins play a role in shutting down the plant's nitrate-to-nitrate conversion activities at night. If researchers can find a way to manipulate this natural process, they could alter plant metabolism to boost crop yields on nutrient-poor soil.
Plant Science Research Unit, Raleigh, NC
Steve Huber, (919) 515-3906

Last Updated: January 28, 1997
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