2018 ASHS Annual Conference

The Eastern Broccoli Project, a multi-state federally funded project led by Cornell University, includes researchers, extension personnel, public and private breeders, and farmers from Maine to Florida in its efforts to create a broccoli (Brassica oleracea var botrytis) industry in the eastern United States. An important aspect of the project is to try to extend the production season up and down the east coast across as many months of the year as possible. Producing this cool season vegetable in the summer is difficult for much of the East Coast. It can be done successfully in the New England region to satisfy market demand in the Northeast, but it is desirable to identify a more southern location to supply the Southeast. The high elevations in western North Carolina experience cooler temperatures during the late spring and summer than are commonly found in the Southeast. Our role in this project is to evaluate varieties, breeding lines, and cultural practices for summer production in the mountains of western North Carolina. Early in the project (2010-2014), broccoli yields and quality from our research station and on-farm trials were low compared to those produced by our project colleagues in Maine, New York, Virginia, and South Carolina. Identification of heat tolerant varieties and breeding lines, use of raised beds and drip-irrigation, use of black plastic mulch in the early spring and white on black plastic mulch in late spring, increased plant populations, and improved transplant production have resulted in increased yields and quality. In the first five years of the project, five new varieties were released or remarketed to the East, and improved selections particular for our region were identified. In our 2017 on-farm trials an industry standard, Emerald Crown, and an advanced breeding line provided favorable marketing potential (approx. 49,421 heads/ha) over a good harvest window.