2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Environmental horticultural production, encompassing nursery and greenhouse, is present in all 50 states. It represents about one-third of the farm gate value of all specialty crops, and about 15% of the total value of U.S. crop production (USDA NASS Hort Crop Census 2014). Production value of nursery and greenhouse crops was estimated at $16.7 billion in 2013 (USDA NASS Hort Crop Census 2014). This places environmental horticultural production ahead of other major crop sectors such as wheat or cotton. To date, stakeholders in environmental horticulture production lacked a unified vision and blueprint that could be used to leverage needed resources to direct future research, education, extension and outreach (Bewick, pers. comm.). In an effort to meet this need, the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) hosted the HRI Research Roundtable in December 2018, which combined 40 key greenhouse and nursery stakeholders with professional facilitation to identify current and future industry challenges and opportunities to increase future success and profitability. Through consensus, the group articulated the horticultural industry’s research priorities and an executive summary was prepared. Four research priorities were identified and included (not listed in rank order or importance): (1) Quantitate and validate the ecosystem services and benefits of plants on human health and wellness. (2) Innovate biological, mechanical, and technological systems that provide efficient, productive, and profitable solutions relevant to producer size and segment. (3) Evaluate consumer-driven preferences that optimize industry-wide profitability and growth. (4) Solve ongoing and emerging industry challenges. These priorities will define internal activities within HRI, and are available also to federal agencies and state commodity groups to influence research funding.