Research

The Berry and Potato Pathology (BPP) program’s focus is to develop novel approaches for management of diseases of blueberries and potatoes, as well as other small fruits produced in Northwestern Washington and the Pacific Northwest.

The Entomology program emphasizes the development of ecologically- and quantitatively-based integrated pest management (IPM) through applied research and education for regional crops of significance in Northwestern Washington.

The Cider Research program was established at NWREC in 1979 with six cider apple varieties. Today we have more than 65 varieties and are evaluating cultivar performance, orchard establishment, and mechanical pruning and harvest.

The Small Fruit Horticulture (SFH) program conducts physiological and production-oriented research that helps ensure the productivity and quality of small fruit crops, while ensuring the health of adjacent natural resources in the Pacific Northwest. Crops of emphasis include red raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry.

The Soil Health program works across cropping systems to study soil management strategies that improve biological, chemical, and physical soil properties related to crop productivity and system resilience.

The Soils and Water program studies soil-plant-water relationships, soil fertility, and water-nutrient interactions with the goals of managing soils to improve water relations and managing water and nutrients to optimize soil processes, plant productivity, and environmental benefits.

The Vegetable Horticulture program is focused on developing, testing and promoting high value, organic and sustainable vegetable production systems. The program contributes to NWREC’s commitment to explore and create new agricultural products and systems that will be economically viable in a changing world. Through our program we have developed new information for numerous vegetable crops including edamame, niche market dry beans, wasabi, baby corn, bamboo, icebox watermelon, winter-grown lettuce, high-tunnel tomatoes, sweetpotatoes, and tea.

The Vegetable Seed Pathology program focuses on diseases that affect small-seeded vegetable seed crops grown in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. These high value, high risk seed crops produce up to 50% of the domestic seed supply and 20 to 50% of worldwide seed supply for approximately 35 vegetable crops (approximately 90 countries import vegetable seed from this region). The Vegetable Seed Pathology program contributes to a sustainable and secure food supply by providing research and outreach on the etiology, biology, epidemiology, and management of diseases caused by fungal, viral, and bacterial pathogens of these crops.

The Weed Science program at the WSU Mount Vernon NWREC is focused on providing management solutions for problem weeds in western Washington. Controlling any one of the dozens of non-native weedy species in this region in any particular crop or in forest or rangelands is difficult, but control of all using any single herbicide or other weed control tactic is impossible. Consequently, weed control research at WSU Mount Vernon has centered on managing a changing weed spectrum through an integrated weed management strategy, including chemical, cultural, mechanical, and biological methods.