Non Technical Summary
Dragon fruit is a widely cultivated neotropical cactus. Commercial plantings can be found in California, Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Texas while a growing urban gardening movement exists in Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, and Oregon. Optimal growing conditions fall within USDA plant hardiness zones 10a-11; however, a reassessment of current and projected meteorological data and cultivar-dependent growth parameters will likely reveal a wider range. Dragon fruit is an attractive crop because of its high demand and market prices, rapid growth and young bearing age, high yield, long lifespan, and water-efficiency. Yet, critical information on high performance varieties, cultural practices to increase fruit yield and quality, a robust pest and disease management program, and fruit quality standards are lacking. Dragon fruit pulp can be transformed in multiple ways, yet there has not been any assessment of the feasibility of building an ancillary industry to transform the fruit not destined for fresh consumption and utilize the fruit of less aesthetic value. Our transdisciplinary team included experts in each of the critical areas of fruit production: horticulture, plant health, and economics with representatives from the academia and the industry. We propose a 3-day meeting to bring together stakeholders, researchers, and extension personnel to identify challenges and opportunities that are critical to the growth of the dragon fruit industry and related value chains. The proposed consumer survey will document the interest in dragon fruit and potential value-added products across the U.S. Knowledge gathered will constitute the basis for future grant proposals and a synthesis paper.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
204	1099	3010	100%

Knowledge Area
204 - Plant Product Quality and Utility (Preharvest);

Subject Of Investigation
1099 - Tropical/subtropical fruit, general/other;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;

Goals / Objectives
This project seeks to bring together stakeholders, researchers, and extension personnel to identify challenges and opportunities that are critical to the growth of the dragon fruit industry and related value chains. We will conduct a consumer survey to determine interest in dragon fruit and potential value-added products across the U.S. and key informants interview with actors in the value chain to examine the options for fresh and value-added dragon fruit products. The results of this consumer and value chain analysis will allow us to organize a strategic planning meeting to determine options for dragon fruit market development and plan a path forward for research and extension projects. We intend to use this strategic planning grant to develop future SCRI-NIFA proposals.

Project Methods
Outreach plan summary:Consumer survey to assess market potential of fresh and value-added dragon fruit.We propose to develop and implement a consumer survey of 600 participants across the US to assess the market potential for fresh and value-added dragon fruit products. The survey will allow us to determine which consumers are most interested in the fruit and its related products to target distribution channels to reach these consumers as well as their willingness to pay for these products to provide insight to the potential profitability of the fruit and related products in the domestic market. Our project team will hire a leading consumer research firm to distribute the survey that will be created under the supervision of Drs. Blare and Zhang, supported by a master's student in the UF Food and Resource Economics department. We will also partner with the industry stakeholders involved in this proposal to identify key informants to interview to analyze the value chain for fresh and value-added dragon fruit products. This analysis will allow us to determine the bottle necks for expanding markets for dragon fruit and the feasibility to address them to offer dragon fruit throughout the country.Hybrid online and in person strategic planning meeting in conjunction with industry members.We propose to hold a 3-day planning meeting to take place at the University of Florida, Tropical Research and Education Center (UF-TREC) in Homestead, which will facilitate the participation of most current and potential growers, packing houses operators, and private sector horticulturists. Funds are requested to cover the expenses of 15 out-of-state participants, including the key collaborators and relevant researchers and industry members. We will open the meeting to growers, packing house operators, propagators and breeders, private sector horticulturists, regulatory and governmental members (i.e., USDA-ARS; USDA-APHIS, FDACS), extension agents and researchers, and any potential investor interested in dragon fruit production and associated derived products. The first day of the meeting will be dedicated to summarizing and discussing the results from the consumer survey and learn about the current state and potential expansion of the dragon fruit industry in each collaborating state. During the afternoon we will tour local dragon fruit orchards and packing houses. During the second day, we will discuss critical aspects of expanding and diversifying dragon fruit production through presentations in each field of expertise, including research and industry speakers. The early afternoon will be dedicated to tour the current dragon fruit projects at UF-TREC (i.e., horticulture, entomology, pathology, and IR4 trials). Later, we will have the virtual participation of international speakers (Colombia, Ecuador, Taiwan, Israel) who will give an overview of their local dragon fruit industry. At the end of the day, we will identify research and extension strategic priorities that are common to the dragon fruit industry across the growing areas. The third day will include the participation of a smaller group composed by the project collaborators and invited participants. Based on the information gathered by the consumer survey and the experiences from Day 1 and Day 2, the list of research and extension strategic priorities will be re-evaluated and narrowed down based on the available funding opportunities, resources, and expertise. Based on the top priorities, we will outline a pathway to secure funding and assign leadership within the group. Finally, we will discuss which topics to include in the synthesis paper, assign roles, and set-up a timeline for its publication. Beside the synthesis paper, we will compile the information provided during the event as a conference proceeding.Publication of the consumer survey, conference proceeding, and synthesis paper.Results from the consumer survey and value chain analysis will be summarized in an article to be submitted to a peer-review journal. The conference proceedings will include a short abstract from each of the talks given by the researchers and industry members and the identified strategic research and extension priorities. The conference proceedings will be disseminated to the in person and virtual attendants through email and will be posted at UF-TREC website. The synthesis paper will be submitted to a peer-review journal and will include a summary of the current state of the industry in the US, consumer preferences and potential markets, projections of suitable growing areas, main challenges hindering the expansion and diversification of the industry from the plant health, horticultural and economic point of view, and a set of recommendations.