Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Vanilla is potentially the highest grossing agricultural commodity for subtropical/tropical areas of the US, which is the largest importer and consumer of vanilla beans and extract. Domestic production could generate a significant portion of market demand while supporting rural communities. Novel approaches to vanilla cultivation, plant propagation, and breeding could ensure a sustainable, safe, and high-quality domestic supply compared to today's volatile supply chain. This proposal seeks to evaluate novel vanilla production strategies to support domestic vanilla cultivation.Project objectives include:1) Test the feasibility of growing vanilla in a pilot-scale agrivoltaics system2) Optimize in vitro vanilla propagation to increase rare vanilla material3) Apply rapid-cycle breeding to vanillaThis research effort seeks to evaluate the cultivation of shade-loving vanilla under photovoltaic panels creating synergy between sustainable energy generation and crop cultivation. Optimizing in vitro vanilla propagation will focus on media components to maximize micropropagation rates for rare, high-quality, disease-free, and genetically uniform stock plants so growers can overcome current supply deficits. We also propose to develop rapid-cycle in vitro breeding methods leveraging research from ornamental orchids.We anticipate that our preliminary agrivoltaics data will validate the use of vanilla in this system. The optimization of specialty vanilla propagation will generate clean planting material to supply the emerging domestic industry. Rapid breeding methods for vanilla should shorten seed-to-seed generation times for future marker-assisted breeding. These objectives together represent a holistic approach to positively impact domestic vanilla cultivation with improved yield, quality, and sustainability.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Vanilla is potentially the highest grossing agricultural commodity for subtropical/tropical areasof the US, which is the largest importer and consumer of vanilla beans and extract. Domesticproduction could generate a significant portion of market demand while supporting ruralcommunities. Novel approaches to vanilla cultivation, plant propagation, and breeding couldensure a sustainable, safe, and high-quality domestic supply compared to today's volatile supplychain. This proposal seeks to evaluate novel vanilla production strategies to support domesticvanilla cultivation.Project objectives include:1) Test the feasibility of growing vanilla in a pilot-scale agrivoltaics system2) Optimize in vitro vanilla propagation to increase rare vanilla material3) Apply rapid-cycle breeding to vanillaThis research effort seeks to evaluate the cultivation of shade-loving vanilla under photovoltaicpanels creating synergy between sustainable energy generation and crop cultivation. Optimizingin vitro vanilla propagation will focus on media components to maximize micropropagation ratesfor rare, high-quality, disease-free, and genetically uniform stock plants so growers canovercome current supply deficits. We also propose to develop rapid-cycle in vitro breedingmethods leveraging research from ornamental orchids.We anticipate that our preliminary agrivoltaics data will validate the use of vanilla in this system.The optimization of specialty vanilla propagation will generate clean planting material to supplythe emerging domestic industry. Rapid breeding methods for vanilla should shorten seed-to-seedgeneration times for future marker-assisted breeding. These objectives together represent aholistic approach to positively impact domestic vanilla cultivation with improved yield, quality,and sustainability.
Project Methods
All work will be carried out in the Redland agricultural area outside Miami, Florida at the Southern Escape Vanillery farm.Objective 1) Test the feasibility of growing vanilla in a pilot-scale agrivoltaics system.Task 1. For this study, plants will be grown in 15 gallon pots to facilitate replication. Each pot will be filled with 8-10 inches of cypress mulch and receive 5 grams of Nutricote (NPK 18-6-8) every six months with monthly foliar fertilizer application of Keyplex 350. All plants will be rooted cuttings at least 15 cm long. The location of the solar panels cannot be organized into a complete randomized block design due to the limited size of this pilot project. Therefore, two arrays of solar panels will be installed with an East-West orientation in order to 1) compare microclimates between a control block (no plants) and treatment block (with plants), and 2) compare vine growth under solar panels to the shade canopy treatments in Objective 1 Task 2. Solar panels will be mounted on a steel framework with the minimum solar panel edge at 3 m above ground level. This will facilitate plant growth and maintenance under the panels. Each solar panel array will be 9 m x 18 m. The array receiving plants will be split into three blocks with nine replicate plants under each block (27 plants total for the solar panel treatment block). Data loggers will record air temperature at 1.5 m, soil temperature at 10 cm below ground, solar panel temperature, total light level, and relative humidity every 15 minutes for both the arrays. Vines will be measured at the start of the project and every two months. Vine length, leaf dimensions, and stem diameter will be measured using a tape measure or digital calipers as appropriate. Plant metrics will be analyzed using JMP statistical software with Tukey's HSD (α≤0.05) for multiple comparisons as a conservative test for significant differences among treatments.Task 2. Test shade cloth canopy variation impact on vanilla growth. We propose to test canopies with multiple levels of light filtering including photoselective canopies that have been shown to alter plant morphology in other species (Kotilainen et al., 2018; Manja and Aoun, 2019). Shade treatments include black cloth at 40, 50, and 60%. Photoselective nets include Blue and Red at 50% light filtering. Blue shade cloth absorbs more red and far-red light and could induce compact growth while increasing chlorophyll content. Red photoselective nets absorb more blue, green, and yellow light that could lead to increased leaf surface area and may induce early flowering. Each of the shade treatments will be included in complete randomized block design with three blocks with each treatment represented once per block. Each treatment within a block will be 9 m x 9 m and will include nine plants just like Objective 1 Task 1. Data loggers will be used to monitor the microclimates for each treatment with one logger per treatment type. Data will be collected in the same manner as Objective 1 Task 1. Favorable outcomes will be canopies that enable rapid vine growth over the duration of the study.Objective 2) Optimize in vitro vanilla propagation to increase rare vanilla material.Task 1. Introducerare germplasm into aseptic culture for micropropagation. Ten diverse vanilla accessions will be initiated into tissue culture for micropropagation. This method of propagation leads to exponential increases in plant numbers faster than propagation by cuttings. The ten vanilla accessions will include eight V. planifolia accessions and two V. x tahitensis accessions. Cuttings for microprogation will first be tested for Cymbidium Mosaic Virus using Agdia test strips. Only virus-free accessions will be selected for propagation. Aseptic cultures will be established on P668 media with 2 mg/L BA to induce shoot proliferation. Contamination and endophytic microbe growth will be inhibited using Caisson Labs Antibiotic/Antimycotic and/or Plant Preservative Mixture as routinely used when establishing aseptic plant tissue cultures. We eventually plan on generating 10,000 plants of each accession and will maintain in vitro stock plants.Task 2. A segregating population of >1,000 seedlings has already been created from a V. planifolia clone, 'Painter', that is adapted to Florida and produces long, slender beans. V. planifolia 'Painter' is highly heterozygous and the first generation from a selfed plant is expected to show morphological variation. We do not yet know which of the many media types are best for germinating vanilla seeds, but we know that seeds on P668 germinate at least 3 months faster (A. Chambers, personal observation) than on previously published MS-based media (Li et al., 2020). We therefore propose to evaluate the impact of multiple media types on vanilla seed germination while developing a segregating population as a first step towards a vanilla breeding program. The goal of this task is to identify if any combination of media types are superior to P668. First, six base media formulations will be compared. These include P668, P748, F522, P658, V891, and standard Murashige and Skoog from PhytoTech Labs. Second, the best performing media types will be selected for testing with supplemental nutrition including banana powder, coconut milk, or peptone at 2 g/L. This will help establish the best base media for seed germination and in vitro plant growth. Future work could include supplemental micronutrients and vitamins. To prepare for testing, seeds will be gently scraped from the central cavities of immature beans at 45 days post pollination and plated aseptically onto the different media types and incubated at 23°C in ambient light (~10 µmol m-1 s-1). Data will be collected after 2 months to quantify the percentage of seed germination. Germinated seeds will be transferred to fresh media and evenly spaced in fresh culture vessels after 2 and 4 months, and the rate of seedling growth will be measured. At the end of the in vitro study, seedlings will be transferred to the shade house for hardening and planting on individual trellises for long-term evaluation. Significant differences in seed germination or seedling growth will be analyzed using JMP statistical software with Tukey's HSD (α≤0.05).Objective 3) Apply rapid-cycle breeding to vanilla.Task 1. In vitro plants from seed or protocorm-like bodies are maintained in media supplemented with benzylaminopurine to induce flowering at around 6 months after initial culturing. Our approach for this task includes using micropropagated V. planifolia plants at the three leaf stage that have only minimal root development as opposed to the failed V. mexicana in vitro plant that had no root development at the time of flowering induction. P668 base media will be supplemented with benzylaminopurine at 1 or 2 mg/L and naphthylacetic acid at 0.5 or 1 mg/ml. It may be necessary to alter additional media components in order to achieve in vitro flowering. For example, combining low nitrogen (1/20th standard rate) and high phosphorus (5x rate) could be important for inducing flowering in vanilla. Future work could explore these inputs as well.Task 2. Establish a vanilla collection. We also propose to establish a collection of ~20 vanilla accessions from vendors around the world guided by previous diversity studies. These accessions will be grown under 50% black shade in 15 gallon pots filled with cypress much replicated in completely randomized blocks. Each replicate will include three plants and will be replicated three times (blocks). Vines will be monitored for growth rate, appearance, and eventually yield and bean quality traits, though these latter traits are beyond the timeframe of the Phase 1 project. These accessions will also serve as the stock plants for Objective 2 Task 1.