Organic Farmer June 2019

Micaela Colley is program director for Organic
Seed Alliance, a partner in CIOA. In this photo
Colley is reviewing carrot variety trials in El
Centro, California.
The Carrot Improvement for Organic Agriculture
(CIOA) project is coordinated by, Dr. Philipp
Simon with USDA-ARS and UW-Madison. Here
is Dr. Simon harvesting carrot trials in El Centro,
California.
The Carrot Improvement for Organic Agriculture
(CIOA) project will soon release new colored
carrot varieties that were bred under organic
farming conditions. Pictured here are carrots in a
variety trial conducted in El Centro, California.
Continued from Page 31
The CIOA project takes a classical
approach to carrot breeding, starting
with intercrosses to combine traits
from two breeding stocks in one
offspring population. So, for example,
intercrossing breeding stock with good
flavor and an unrelated nematode
resistant carrot, to develop a new
breeding line with both good flavor and
nematode resistance. As CIOA breeders
develop DNA markers to track genes
controlling these traits in carrots, the 5
to 10 year process of combining traits
will be be reduced. That is good news
because carrot growers and consumers
are interested in improvements for
many traits.
Challenges
Simon says one challenge the project
has encountered is finding suitable
carrots for the Southeast region, where
the subtropical climate proves difficult
for production. But trials in Virginia,
and in the tropical climate of Hawaii,
have provided promising leads on
which material is worth pursuing as
part of CIOA’s breeding work. They
hope to identify even more material in
2019 to help meet this need.
New Releases
For now, CIOA is poised to release
several varieties adapted across
geographical regions in the U.S. Project
partners plan to release at least half
a dozen varieties within the next two
years, including a purple-orange carrot
and some red varieties. Reds are of
special interest to organic growers, who
report having limited options that have
good flavor.
CIOA has already released some
breeding lines with exceptional
nematode resistance to other
breeders, including a carrot breeding
collaborative in British Columbia, as
well as to the organic seed industry.
These lines support the breeding
work of others, resulting in even
more improved varieties entering the
marketplace. CIOA’s intent is for the
products of their work to remain in
the public domain: free of intellectual
property rights that restrict the ability of
farmers and breeders to freely operate.
CIOA believes it’s important that
everyone have continued access to use
and further develop these new varieties
and breeding lines that were supported
through public funding.
CIOA partners also hope new varieties
coming out of their project will be
produced organically and successfully
commercialized to help organic
operations meet the requirement to use
certified organic seed when available.
Although gaps remain in the organic
seed supply, availability in organic seed
has expanded tremendously over the
last 15 years. Organic plant breeding has
played an important role in this growth
to ensure that more diverse organic
seed options are available—and it will
continue to play a meaningful role.
2018 Farm Bill
Congress recently passed the 2018
Farm Bill, which more than doubles the
amount of research funding available
to the USDA’s OREI program, CIOA’s
funding source. By 2023, $50 million
will be available each year to support
research that benefits existing organic
growers as well as transitioning growers
who face a steep learning curve when
adopting organic practices. Because
organic research often focuses on soil
health and alternative pest and disease
management, the results benefit all
farmers—not just organic.
“One of the long-term impacts of
CIOA—and of publicly funded organic
research in general—is that graduate
students working on this project
are developing expertise in organic
systems,” says Colley. “They represent
the next generation of plant breeders
and agricultural researchers. And the
demand for and interest in organic
farming is only growing.”
This article first appeared in Carrot
Country.
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to hear from you. Feel free to email us at
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Organic Farmer June/July 2019