Organic Farmer October/November 2019

Continued from Page 28
Meeting the Needs of High
Tunnel Producers
When Zaid Kurdieh met Michael
Mazourek at the Stone Barns Center for
Food and Agriculture five years ago, the
first thing out of his mouth was: “Michael,
we need better cucumbers.” Thus began a
breeding partnership that quickly turned
into a friendship.
Kurdieh is the operator of Norwich
Meadows Farm, an 80-acre diversified
vegetable operation in Norwich, New
York, that serves 1,000 Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscribers
and six farmers markets in New York
City. Increasingly chefs and restaurants
are major purchasers, now making up
about half of his sales. Cucumbers are
one of the farm’s most important crops
because of the diversity they offer.
Dr. Michael Mazourek describes his organic plant breeding work in a field of squash trials as part of
the 2018 Student Organic Seed Symposium.
“We work with a lot of chefs, and one of
the things we’re able to do is introduce
them to new flavors and textures—
entirely new cucumbers they’ve never
heard of before—which causes an explosion
in interest,” Kurdieh says.
“Our first breeding goal when we started
working with Cornell was to achieve
better flavor,” Kurdieh adds, noting his
Middle Eastern origin and disappointment
with everything in the market when
he moved back to the U.S. over 35 years
ago. “I couldn’t find a cucumber with
good flavor, so that was the impetus: to
find the real deal.”
Mazourek and Kurdieh first went to
the USDA collections to get 50 varieties
of Middle Eastern cucumbers. They
grew them out and selected for flavor.
Meanwhile, disease issues began to accelerate
on Kurdieh’s farm and on others’
operations in the region.
Kurdieh grows cucumbers in high
tunnels, 10-acres worth, which can make
managing pests and diseases more challenging.
Controlling cucumber beetles is
particularly important as they transmit
bacterial wilt. Mazourek explains that
there is a lot of water moving through the
plant and the bacteria end up clogging
Edmund Frost of Common Wealth Seed
Growers gives a tour of his organic cucurbit
plant breeding projects focused on downy
mildew resistance.
the vascular system, killing the plants.
Conventional growers rely on neonicotinoid
seed treatments and sprays to
control the disease but fungicides are
expensive and not always effective, as
fungicide resistance can also emerge with
the disease. Neonicotinoids are the most
widely used pesticide and frequently
make headlines because of growing
concerns about their harmful impact
on insect pollinators. Certified organic
growers aren’t allowed to use synthetic
chemicals like neonics to manage pests
and diseases.
Mazourek's breeding team has made swift
progress in developing hybrid varieties
that are routinely tested under organic
conditions and in high tunnels. Two varieties
will be released soon, and, according
to Kurdieh, they contain characteristics—
including good flavor—that are superior
to what’s currently available. The varieties
also help conventional growers who want
to cut input costs or are experiencing
Edmund Frost of Common Wealth Seed
Growers.
fungicide resistance to chemical controls.
Kurdieh and Mazourek say the project
is ongoing. The long-term breeding goal
is to achieve an even bigger package of
desired characteristics that go beyond
flavor and disease resistance to eventually
include insect resistance.
“This is the most fun I’ve had farming in
years,” Kurdieh says. “The experimentation
keeps me going.”
Kurdieh says another reason he’s excited
about organic plant breeding is that it
helps him meet the organic seed requirement
under the organic standards.
Organic farmers are required to use
organic seed when commercially available,
but when an equivalent variety isn’t
available, organic growers can use conventional
varieties that aren’t genetically
engineered or treated with a pesticide
seed treatment, like neonics.
Continued on Page 32
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Organic Farmer October/November 2019