2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Rosaceous crop growers are challenged to grow cultivars that are disease resistant, yet meet the fruit quality needs of various supply chain members (i.e., packers, shippers, and final consumers). Breeders face the task of developing new cultivars that effectively combine production and consumer-oriented traits. Economic experiments were used to investigate how peach growers in the southeast (in 2016 and 2018) and strawberry growers in Florida (in 2016) value disease resistance traits versus fruit quality traits. In addition to the experiment, socio-economic and demographic information was obtained from the growers. The mixed logit models indicate that results are crop specific: in the 2016 survey peach growers valued disease resistance more than fruit quality traits (size and external color) but in the 2018 survey peach growers valued fruit quality trait (external color) more than disease resistance; and strawberry growers (irrespective of the size of their operation) have strong preferences for the specific attributes of flavor improvement, size of fruits, and disease resistance from root and crown rot. Also, larger strawberry growers are more likely to grow a new cultivar with disease resistance and fruit quality improvement. The crop and trait specific results are useful to breeders in focusing time and monetary resources in their breeding programs.