Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
410 MRAK HALL
DAVIS,CA 95616-8671
Performing Department
VITICULTURE AND ENOLOGY
Non Technical Summary
Horticultural industries face competition from off-shore crop producers. A coordinated approach, among all horticultural industries, is needed to remain competitive, improve quality and ensure vibrant rural communities.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
100%
Goals / Objectives
While horticultural crops are grown on only a small portion of U.S. agricultural lands, they represent nearly 40 percent of U.S. agricultural crop production. The value of commercial horticultural crops is almost evenly split among three areas: vegetables; nursery/greenhouse; and fruits, nuts, and berries. Horticultural production is increasing at an average annual growth rate of about 3 percent. However, because of the high value per unit area of these crops, there is intense pressure on the industry from underdeveloped countries looking to increase sales of agricultural commodities. For most horticultural crops, harvesting represents about 50% of the cost of production and at least 50% of the harvesting of horticultural products is done by hand. In underdeveloped countries where hand-labor is inexpensive, there is a tremendous competitive advantage for their horticultural producers compared to those in the U.S. These economic factors make it imperative that U.S.
producers take a strategic approach in assessing research, development and marketing needs. The development of a strategic plan for research and extension needs for Horticulture as a whole is also imperative to facilitate the development of the financial resources needed to meet the challenges that face horticultural producers. The concept of developing a strategic plan for all of Horticulture is daunting. However, such a goal can be achieved by developing strategic plans for various commodity groups independently and weaving them together once the major thematic areas have been identified. This process is already started. In 2003, the tree fruit industry, with sponsorship from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) developed a draft strategic plan that has allowed this vital industry to prioritize their needs. Based on this model, CSREES and ARS are proposing to work with the wine grape industry to develop
a strategic plan for grapes. Since 90 % of the wine grape industry is based in California, it makes sense that the University of California at Davis takes a lead role in this effort. However, this is a national effort and Agricultural Experiment Station Directors from each of the four regions have been contacted for their participation. To date, representatives from the Western, North central and Northeastern regions have agreed to participate. This proposal is to sponsor a two day workshop that will be held May 25 and 26 at the Chicago-O'Hare Airport Hilton. The workshop will be professionally facilitated. Approximately 50 people, representing industry and academia from across the nation have been invited. At a preliminary meeting an agenda was agreed on by the steering committee. The purpose of the workshop will be to draft a vision statement that is appropriate for the national industry and to identify key themes that can be discussed by the industry as a whole. As a follow-up to
this workshop, a larger workshop, with as many as 200 participants, will decide on key short-term, intermediate and long term goals for research, extension and development for the grape industry.
Project Methods
The development of national grape priorities will begin with concentration on regional priorities. Challenges to grape production have unique regional aspects that need to be acknowledged and factored into national strategies. Local growers, associations and scientists are best equipped to address and prioritize these challenges and best positioned to suggest strategies to overcome them. To be truly national, all states with significant grape production must be represented in planning sessions. Strategic planning sessions must include growers, processors, associations, and research and extension scientists to ensure that all points of view are expressed. The approach here will be to have a national executive committee to shepherd the process ensuring national balance and inclusion. The executive committee will develop a comprehensive list of issues and challenges with input from key regional leaders. These will first be prioritized, along with discussion and
understanding about nuances and background associated with each priority. With the list in hand, a second meeting will be convened with a much larger group, maintaining the balance between growers, processors, associations and scientists. Approaches to addressing the priorities will be the major discussion. From these discussions, the approaches will be aggregated into areas, or themes. The executive committee will take the grape industry themes to a meeting of national horticultural commodities where the crop-specific themes will be further incorporated into national horticultural research and outreach themes. The approach outlined here closely follows the process used by the tree fruit industry. The grape industry is indebted to the tree fruit industry leaders for sharing their insights.