Plant Breeding
Comparison of High Throughput Sequencing to Standard Protocols for Virus Detection in Berry Crops
Virus testing ensures that clean plants are distributed by nurseries to producers and home gardeners. Viruses can lead to reduced plant vigor, lower fruit quality and reduced yields, costing producers significant profit loss…
ARoma17 Gives Growers, Foodies a Domestic Alternative for High-Yielding Fragrant Rice
As U.S. consumers continue to explore world cuisines, many have developed a taste for the fragrant jasmine-type rice used in many southern Asian dishes. However, Arkansas, the leading rice growing…
Genetic Discovery May Improve Soybean Drought Tolerance
Every year, drought impacts agricultural yield in some part of the world. Soybean, one of the most widely-grown crops on earth, is no exception. When drought conditions strike and yield falls, growers suffer economically…
Researchers Add Gene Editing to Rice Research Toolbox
Variety development is a core effort in the Division of Agriculture research. The need for new breeding material with important genetic traits in environmental tolerances, disease resistance and food quality and yield is never-ending. But it can take …
Primocane Blackberries Open New Markets for Fruit Growers
Traditional, floricane-fruiting blackberry plants produce canes that only fruit every other year, and are typically limited to a 4-6 week growing season. Blackberry plants have perennial root systems that survive from year-to-year, while the canes they produce…
Producing Enchantment, Arkansas’ First Grape for Red Wine
Arkansas’ harsh climate with cold winters and hot summers makes growing wine grapes a challenge. Decades of development went into breeding Enchantment, Arkansas’ first red wine grape. The goal was to develop a wine grape that could stand up to Arkansas’…