^{Robert Hubner}

The basics are the same. Whether “organic” or “conventional,” plants need water, light, and nutrients. But growing crops organically can be dramatically different from conventional methods.

Mention organic wheat to an east-side farmer, for example, and you’ll probably get a bemused grin. Copious amounts of synthetic nitrogen are generally thought essential to produce correspondingly copious yields. And then there are the pests and weeds, problems enough with conventional chemical tools.

Stephen Jones, a winter wheat breeder and Crop and Soil Sciences researcher, is coordinating a number of projects concerning organic production of wheat, ranging from selection of suitable varieties to efficiency of nitrogen intake. Jones has been crossing modern wheat varieties with 163 varieties grown from the 1840s through the 1950s, varieties not grown with the aid of heavy nitrogen input. He is looking for genetic traits that better enable plants to compete against weeds and more efficiently mine the soil for nutrients.

Carol Miles, a horticultural scientist at the Vancouver research station, is working with Jones on seed selection in wheat. She is also evaluating vegetable and fruit varieties best suited to growing organically. (See “In Watermelon Heaven,” WSM Fall ’06.) The seeds themselves, no matter what variety, present a challenge to organic growers. Conventional growers use various fungicides to protect the seeds upon planting and ensure greater germination. Lindsey du Toit, a seed pathologist at the Mount Vernon NWREC, is working with Miles and plant pathologist Debra Inglis to find better organically acceptable seed treatments.

David Granatstein works with others to track economic trends in organic production and marketing in Washington. The result of their annual survey is a report available here.

Many other faculty researchers and graduate students are working on organic farming issues, ranging from orchard understory management to pest control.

For more information, visit the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources Website. Progress reports on organic research projects are available here.

Washington State Magazine Home