Nineteen Tomato varieties evaluated under organic guidelines
Monday, June 23, 2014 - 12:00
in Biology & Nature
The recent surge in organic farming has created a need for enhanced research efforts to inform the agricultural sector. George Boyhan from the Department of Horticulture at the University of Georgia says that "variety evaluations"—studies that evaluate and develop crop varieties specifically suited for organic production—can be particularly useful to organic producers. "There continues to be need for variety evaluation trials, as many of the available varieties are locally adapted or only regionally available," he noted. Boyhan said few trials have been performed using the open-pollinated tomato varieties popular among organic growers, so growers lack valuable information about how organic varieties stack up to commercial hybrids.