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- Author or Editor: Donald L. Wyse x
- HortScience x
Minnesota has a long history of strong citizen involvement in environmental, community development, economic development, and human rights issues. Therefore, it is not surprising there are many individuals, organizations, communities, and educational institutions in Minnesota actively involved in the sustainable agriculture debate. The challenge we face is how to help these strong forces work in collaboration to solve rural problem s.
In 1990 representatives of five community-based organizations and the U of M agreed to form the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA) to be housed at the University and governed by a board of community and University representatives. The purpose of MISA is to bring farmers and other sustainable agriculture community interests together with University administrators, educators, researchers, and students in a cooperative effort to undertake innovative, agenda-setting programs that might not otherwise be pursued in the state.
Winter annual cover crops, winter rye (Secale cereale L.) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), can reduce weed density and build soil quality in organic production systems. There is interest in integrating cover crops and reduced tillage with organic vegetable production, but few studies have been conducted in regions with short growing seasons and cool soils such as the upper Midwest. We evaluated no-tillage production of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.), and bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) planted into winter rye, hairy vetch, and a winter rye/hairy vetch (WR/HV) mixture that were mechanically suppressed with a roller–crimper at two locations in Minnesota. Average marketable yields of tomato, zucchini, and bell pepper in the rolled cover crops were reduced 89%, 77%, and 92% in 2008 and 65%, 41%, and 79% in 2009, respectively, compared with a no-cover control. Winter rye and the WR/HV mixture reduced average annual weed density at St. Paul by 96% for 8 to 10 weeks after rolling (WAR) and hairy vetch mulch reduced weeds 80% for 2 to 8 WAR, whereas at Lamberton, there was no consistent effect of cover treatments on weed populations. Winter rye and the WR/HV mixture had higher average residue biomass (5.3 and 5.7 Mg·ha−1, respectively) than hairy vetch (3.0 Mg·ha−1) throughout the season. Soil growing degree-days (SGDD) were lower in cover crop treatments compared with the no-cover control, which could have delayed early vegetable growth and contributed to reduced yields. All cover crop mulches were associated with low levels of soil nitrogen (N) (less than 10 mg·kg−1 N) in the upper 15 cm. Rolled winter annual cover crops show promise for controlling annual weeds in organic no-tillage systems, but additional research is needed on methods to increase vegetable crop yields in rolled cover crops.
The genus Linum L. contains ≈200 primarily blue-flowered species, including several ornamentals, yet no reports exist regarding the cut flower potential of this genus. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cut flower potential of perennial flax cultivars (L. perenne L. ‘Blue Flax’ and ‘Sapphire’; Expt. 1, 2018) and accessions (L. austriacum L., L. lewisii Pursh., and L. perenne; Expt. 2, 2019), and record traits that will enable breeding and selection for improved cut flower performance. The mean vase life across both cultivars in Expt. 1 was 9.2 days. In Expt. 2, L. perenne had the longest average vase life (9.3 days), followed by L. austriacum (9.1 days) and L. lewisii (8.3 days). The floral preservative (Floralife 300) significantly increased vase life by an average of 1.7 days in Expt. 1, and 1.6 days in Expt. 2, and resulted in a significantly greater number of flowers (≈2x) in both experiments. Significant variation was observed among genotypes for most traits, including vase life (6.2 to 11.3 days) and number of flowers (1.3 to 10.5), highlighting the opportunities for improving the potential of cut flower perennial flax through breeding.