This summer, more than a million tons of chardonnay grapes are plumping on manicured vineyards around the world. The grapes make one of the most popular white wines, but their juicy fruit and luscious leaves are also targets for diseases such as downy mildew, a stubborn fungus-like parasite… Drop a chardonnay vine into a new region where it didn’t co-evolve with the local pests, and it’s especially vulnerable. But breed a chardonnay with a hardier local variety, and you risk losing the very essence that makes it chardonnay. “There’s always some interest in new varieties with resistance,” says Dan Ward, director of the New Jersey Center for Wine Research and Education and a professor at Rutgers University. “But the fact is, winemakers want chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon, and consumers do, too.”
Commercial Agriculture
Faculty Focus: Distinguished Prof. Bingru Huang Works on Improving Turfgrass Stress Tolerance for China’s Growing Industry
As China’s economy is growing and the population is increasing, China’s turfgrass industry is rapidly expanding due to the increasing needs for general landscaping and sports fields. The GDP of the turf-related industry in China is over 3 billion yuan and is expected to increase by 30–50 percent each year. One of the major issues […]
Health Benefits of the Jersey Tomato
Springsteen. Bon Jovi. Jersey Shore fist pumpers. An armpit with stink lines. These are all common things people associate with New Jersey. However, the Garden State is also the home of the famous Jersey tomato… “I’m not exactly sure why,” admits Rutgers University professor Thomas J. Orton, Ph.D., who works in the department of plant biology and pathology. “If you ask people around the country, ‘What about Jersey?’ they’ll say the best thing about Jersey is the tomato.”
Reviving seeds of Campbell’s tomato legacy
Surveying the basket of tomatoes in the middle of a table at the Center for Environmental Transformation in Camden, a teenager wearing a Captain Planet T-shirt plucked a small round tomato out of the mix, a Campbell’s 146. “I like this one because it sounds like an experiment,” Dimitrius Eliza said. The tomato was an experiment of sorts, one of many tomatoes bred by the Campbell Soup Company in Camden soil…. The J.T.D. was later crossed with the Marglobe to create the Rutgers, which was introduced in 1934; as evidenced by the name, Rutgers University worked in conjunction with the company to develop new varieties. With the Rutgers, Sonke said, “The two primary characteristics they were breeding for was something that would ripen more uniformly…but the other thing they were looking for was disease resistance.”
New peach and nectarine varieties help Eastern growers compete
Peach growers and shippers in the Northeast who market to large retailers are seeing increasing competition from shippers in California, Georgia, South Carolina and even countries in the Southern Hemisphere… Traditionally, the market has hung its hat…
How to make a yummy, consistent beer: Rutgers team is on a mission
There’s a lot of science that goes into making a tasty beer. But not all brewers and hop farmers — especially the small ones — have access to the tools and information they need to arrive at the perfect product… “What we reall…
Majority of US consumers ‘lack understanding’ of GMOs – survey
Almost 60% of American consumers have “a fair or poor understanding” of GMO foods, despite generally supporting a recently approved bill to introduce mandatory labelling of GMOs in the US… William Hallman, also a visiting scholar at the Annenberg Public Policy Center and professor of human ecology at Rutgers University, said that the bill could help consumers to improve their understanding of genetically modified foods.
Climate tipping points: What do they mean for society?
The phrase “tipping point” passed its own tipping point and caught fire after author Malcolm Gladwell’s so-named 2000 book. It’s now frequently used in discussions about climate change, but what are “climate tipping points…
Tough season forces N.J. Peach Festival to be canceled
Peach ice cream – fresh-dipped and fabulous – will be featured at the 2016 Gloucester County 4-H Fair this year. But there won’t be a Peach Bake-Off, or a Little Miss Peach competition. And a 2016 Peach Queen will not be crowned, either… This spring’s weather hit local growers hard. An unusually warm spell in late March – which encouraged early varieties of peaches to blossom – was followed by a deep freeze the night of April 4 and into the morning of April 5. “The temperatures ranged from 17 to 25 degrees,” notes Hemant Gohil, agricultural agent at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Gloucester County.
Rutgers 250: NJAES All-Star Variety of the Month — Tree Fruit Featuring TangOs® Peach
The Rutgers 250 All-Star Variety for July 2016 is the ‘NJF16’ TangOs® peach! This tree fruit variety deserves the spotlight for its novel attributes that appeal to both consumers and growers. This beautiful peach is desirable to consumers because of its flat shape, 100% yellow color, and deliciously sweet flavor. What makes this peach so […]
