Project Number: 1910-21000-023-06
Project Type: Grant

Start Date: Jul 01, 2010
End Date: Jun 30, 2012

Objective:
Organize a tree fruit rootstock conference that brings together multidisciplinary researchers and a large group of industry representatives including nurseries and growers to identify, prioritize research objectives and assess potential impact on profitability of the tree fruit industry and rural development.

Approach:
During the coordinating committee meeting at the annual meeting of the American Society of Horticultural Sciences in August 2010 at Palm Desert, CA and additional advisory panel meetings with industry representatives in UT, WA, MI and PA we consolidated some of the rootstock industry research needs and began developing a white paper on the current status of rootstock research. The group of industry advisors and researchers have united under the name Root2Fruit to advance rootstock research to improve profitability and sustainability of the fruit industry. These coordinating meetings have been used to plan and organize a larger industry wide conference on rootstock research at the annual meeting of the International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA) in Feb 2011 in the Tri-Cities of Washington State. The meeting held in conjunction with IFTA will address a wide audience of U.S. temperate tree fruit growers and connect researchers with industry needs. IFTA then will serve as a nexus for disseminating knowledge about the Root2Fruit effort through its website and the Compact Fruit Tree scientific publication.