Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project included groups of farmers, seed producers, researchers, educators, public and private plant breeders, food scientists and processors, and end-users of organic grain products. Actors involved or interested in this project were generally eager to support a participatory testing network throughout the project and will continue to engage to inform future crop breeding efforts to meet the needs and wants of end-users of organic germplasm. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?For the duration of the project, we worked with fourgraduate students (one MS, and three PhD), a visiting scientist, and two postdocs who were instrumental in coordinating on-farm work, laboratory testing, and data management. All students have contributed to the communication of our research findings. Following the mission of the University of Illinois, Ugarte, Wander, Bohn, and Andrade hosted a total of thirtyundergraduate students from the University of Illinois and University of Illinois partners [Zamorano University (Honduras), Federal University of Goiás (Brazil), and Zhejiang University (China)]. We also established the Illinois Organic Internship for undergraduate students from under-represented groups interested in research in organic and sustainable cropping systems. Throughout the project undergraduate students were involved in all project activities and worked closely with graduate students. Several of them have continued on in graduate programs in diverse fields including sustainable agriculture, ecology, and food science and human nutrition. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A variety of methods were used to disseminate project results. We curated outreach material that has been delivered through virtual venues including the project's website, the project's Instagram account, the eOrganic youtube channel, Zoom meetings and in person through the Illinois Agronomy Day. Findings were also presented at scientific meetings including the Agronomy-Crop-Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meetings, the Corn Breeders School, the Cereals and the Grain Association Annual Meeting. Finally, results have been submitted for peer-review; two articles are already published with additional upcoming publications that will be published resulting from graduate student MS thesis and dissertations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our integrated Multi-Regional Project conducted advanced on-farm research to identify biophysicaland social/legal factors influencing the performance of organic maize cultivars and dependent businesses. It exercised a participatory process that incorporated end-users into research and Extension activities done in concert with eOrganic to strengthen the organic seed supply and develop client-oriented breeding networks and business structures that deliver high-yielding, nutritious, N use efficient, weed-competitive genotypes adapted to organic systems. At on-farm locations, we testedcultivars developed by four breeding programs that had distinctly different breeding objectives.Results revealed a wide range in agronomic performance resulting from significantvariability in the management practices used by participating farmers. We developed a typology of management that helped in capturing some of the variability that is introduced by on-farm management practices and farmer's philosophies of management. This contributed to a better understanding of management as a selective pressure across geographically distant on-fam sites. Using farm typology, we can identify the characteristics or traits that are important to study under controlled conditions and how management is influencing soil health which is directly related to crop performance. Work under controlled experiments helped us to understand maize root phenotypic responses to different fertility management regimes. We quantified the root angle and root complexity based on measurements of fractal dimensions of branching points of coarse roots. Root angle gives us an idea of the depth and direction of root exploration for nutrient acquisition. Overall, we found a negative relationship between root complexity and crop performance. While we may think that with higher root complexity there is more root exploration and more N uptake, there is also a higher carbon investment in the root system that reducedyield. We found a positive relationship between root angle and yield, suggesting that steeper root systems are positively related with yield in our region. This is likely the case as roots were able to exploit a larger soil volume and uptake water during critical plant growth stages. When we evaluated fine root traits, which are critical for nutrient and water uptake, we found genotypic differences.The hybrids that showed greater investment in fine roots traits including root length density and specific root area, were those hybrids with lower root complexity. Despite the establishment of fertility management regimes, our systems were characterized by optimal N supply. Therefore, our results, highlight the need to monitor environmental stressors beyond soil fertility in order to better understand agronomic responses in this region. Companion work that explored the influence of the seed loophole on the quantity and quality of maize seed in the USfound that that about 75% of US organic corn is grown from organically produced seed. Participants in our network suggest the risks that are associated with the production of organic seed present a larger challenge for investment than the seed loophole. Through a series of interactions with actors involved in the seed industry we identified a variety of traits that define seed quality, and determined how the traits of interest vary depending on who uses the seed and its purposes. In addition to traits that are related to productivity, agronomic success and grain quality related to potential end-use that are widely reported by seed retailers, we identified gaps where there are needs for additional information. This includes seed characteristics that are related to environmental performance or public health. In many cases, the organic label is used by consumers as a proxy for environmental performance. Other traits like harvest index, functions in the rhizosphere, and nutrient use efficiency that are of interest to farmers and consumers, are rarely reported. A broadened list of traits of interest should inform futuremaize selection efforts.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Endres, A.B., M.O. Bohn, J.E. Andrade, W.A. Goldstein, E.E. Marriott, A.K. Formiga, C.M. Ugarte, and M.M. Wander. 2022. Influence of the seed loophole and bottleneck on quantity and quality of organic maize seed in the U.S. Frontiers in Agronomy. doi: 10.3389/fagro.2022.763974
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Mujjabi, C. 2022. The use of participatory breeding and testing networks in maize varietal development for organic systems. (M.S. Thesis. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Wander, M.M., Lammerts van Bueren, E., Nawaz, S., Klassen, S., and Schrager. B. 2022. Systems based research networks. Panel Discussion at the 11th Organic Seed Alliance Annual Conference.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
A collection of papers addressing how transdisciplinary research networks can select for food and farming systems traits that provide social and environmental goods related to health, fairness and care will appear in 2023 at the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD).
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project includes groups of farmers, seed producers, researchers, educators, public and private plant breeders, food scientists and processors, and end-users of organic products interested in supporting a participatory testing network that will inform future breeding efforts to meet the needs and wants of end-users of organic germplasm. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In the last year, the project has involved four graduate students and a visiting scientist. They have continued to be instrumental in coordinating on-farm work, laboratory testing, and data management. Following the mission of the University of Illinois, we continue to provide opportunities for students at Illinois and at University of Illinois partners; Ugarte, Wander, and Bohn hosted six undergraduate students from the University of Illinois and one undergraduate student from Zamorano University (Honduras). We established the "Illinois Organic Internship" for undergraduate students from under-represented groups interested in organic and sustainable cropping systems research. Three undergraduate students were recruited for the Illinois Organic Internship in the Summer 2021. Similar to previous years, undergraduate students were involved in all project activities and worked closely with graduate students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The primary form for disseminating results this year has been through virtual venues, including the project's website and Instagram account, the eOrganic Youtube channel, Zoom meetings, and in-person through the Illinois Agronomy Day. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are organizing a roundtable discussion to be part of the Organic Seed Growers Conference (Feb 4-11, 2022) and an online retreat to discusshow do we facilitate and connect breeders with others in the research and development pipeline and engage the organic/regenerative community in the development of ecologically and socially resilient systems. We will organize a final year of trials at the University of Illinois. We will leverage the controlled conditions that reduce the variability due to inherent soil properties and management and use the three-year and four-year rotation long-term study that has been established for purposes of organic cropping systems research. Conduct molecular work that tests the presence and abundance of functional groups associated with plant growth promotion, yield, and grain quality characteristics. We are working on peer-review publications and technical notes for result dissemination to the scientific community and the groups of stakeholders that are part of the participatory and testing networks.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This calendar year we focused on maintaining the participatory and testing network established in the previous years. Results revealed differences in agronomic characteristics of germplasm that was bred in fields under organic management as compared with the material developed at the University of Illinois under more controlled conditions in terms of nutrients and weed competition. The germplasm developed at the University of Illinois was derived from exPVP sources and its yield potential is comparable to commercially available checks. Soil health assessment revealed the need to understand other factors beyond N fertility to improve recommendations and management that optimized yield in organic systems.Hybrids from different breeding backgrounds responded differently to conditions of organic matter management. For example, hybrids developed under organic management background seem to have greater root complexity and lower fine root. Observations in regards to grain quality characteristics as influenced by management revealedthat planting location, nitrogen treatments, and genotype are stronger factors influencing quality than weed pressure. As expected, increased nitrogen resulted in greater protein and oil content, whereas starch content decreased. Hybrids of interest presented a broad nutrient composition, especially in carotenoid, Zn, Fe, Mn, and methionine content. Kernel color was moderately associated with total carotenoid content but to a lesser extent to single carotenoids. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed differences in genotypes from different breeding programs. This analysis also showed that protein, oil, amino acids, and carotenoid content were inversely proportional to starch and fiber content. We identified traits of interest to guide future maize breeding programs for organic grain cropping systems. We also identified biological and market-based strategies to improve seed production of hybrid corn.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Endres, A.B., M.M. Wander, J.E. Andrade Laborde, M.O. Bohn, A.K. Formiga, W. Goldstein, E. Marriott and C.M. Ugarte. 2021. Influence of the seed loophole and bottleneck on quantity and quality of organic maize seed in the U.S. (Under Review).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Ghimire, B., Mujjabi, C., Ugarte, C. M., Bohn, M. and Wander, M. 2021. Influence of Genotype and Management on Carbon and Nitrogen Mineralization Dynamics in Organic Maize Production [Abstract]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Bohn, M. 2021. Organic Corn Breeding. Illinois Agronomy Day. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Ugarte, C.M., Bohn, M., Wander, M., Andrade, J., Endres, B., Goldstein, W., Mujjabi, C., Ghimire, B., Gulkirpik, E., Toc, M. and Nunez, M. 2021. Participatory Breeding and Testing Networks: A Maize Based Case Study for Organic Systems [Abstract]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2021am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/138954.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Mujjabi, C., Ghimire, B., Ugarte, C.M., Wander, M., Goldstein, W. and Bohn, M. 2021. Evaluation of the Usefulness of Expvp Maize Germplasm in Hybrid Development for Organic Maize Systems Using Participatory Variety Testing [Abstract]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2021am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/139199.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Ugarte, C.M. 2021. Organic Grain Farming Research at Illinois. Illinois Agronomy Day. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Toc M., Gulkirpik E. and Andrade Laborde J. 2021. Grain Quality Attributes of New Organic Corn Hybrids Grown at Three Midwestern U.S. States [Poster Session]. Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) F.I.R.S.T. Annual Event. Online. https://ift21.mapyourshow.com/8_0/sessions/session-details.cfm?ScheduleID=296.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Toc M., Gulkirpik E. and Andrade Laborde J. 2021. A Machine Learning Model to Predict Carotenoid Content in Corn Using Reflectance Colorimetry [Poster Session]. Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) F.I.R.S.T. Annual Event. Online. https://ift21.mapyourshow.com/8_0/sessions/session-details.cfm?ScheduleID=288.
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project includes groups of farmers, seed producers, researchers, educators, public and private plant breeders, food scientists and processors, and end-users of organic products interested in supporting a participatory testing network that will inform future breeding efforts to meet the needs and wants of end-users of organic germplasm. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In the last year, the project has involved fourgraduate students who have continued to be instrumental in coordinating on-farm work, laboratory testing, and data management. Following the mission of the University of Illinois, we continue to provide opportunities for students at Illinois and at University of Illinois partners. While limited due to challenges associated with COVID-19, Ugarte and Wander hosted three undergraduate students from the University of Illinois, and one undergraduate student from the Federal University of Goiás (Brazil). Bohn hosted two undergraduate students from Illinois.Andrade hosted two undergraduate students from Illinois anda visiting scholar from Honduras. Students contributed to the project and were trained in various laboratory and field techniques related to corn breeding, biological methods for soil quality assessment, and grain quality evaluations. A former student from Zamorano University (Honduras) who was part of the project since 2018, extended his appointment and has been involved in coordinating field activities and supporting the work of graduate students in the breeding and soil evaluation components of the project. By leveraging activities in this project, Ugarte, Bohn, and Wander, applied for additional support from the University of Illinois Student Sustainability Committee to fund a student training/internship program of underrepresented students in the 2021 and 2022 academic years. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The primary form for disseminating results this year has been through virtual venues including the eOrganic youtube channel, the project's website, and the project's Instagram account. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?While COVID-19 has limited our ability to conduct laboratory research, the team has been able to maintain a reduced staff to stay on target with scheduled project activities. We continue to recruit stakeholders interested in the educational network and welcome new participation in the testing network.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Participation in the testing network, as well as in an educational network, has expanded over the first three years of the project. Efforts on the testing network have been focused on improving the statistical power of our trials by increasing the number of site-year observations. Preliminary results revealed differences in agronomic characteristics of germplasm that was bred in fields under organic management as compared with the material developed at the University of Illinois under more controlled conditions in terms of nutrients and weed competition. Soil health assessment revealed the need to understand other factors beyond N fertility to improve yields in organic systems. Observations in regards to grain quality characteristics as influenced by management revealedthat planting location, nitrogen treatments, and genotype are stronger factors influencing quality than weed pressure. As expected, increased nitrogen resulted in greater protein and oil content, whereas starch content decreased. Hybrids of interest presented a broad nutrient composition, especially in carotenoid, Zn, Fe, Mn, and methionine content. Kernel color was moderately associated with total carotenoid content but to a lesser extent to single carotenoids. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed differences in genotypes from different breeding programs. This analysis also showed that protein, oil, amino acids, and carotenoid content were inversely proportional to starch and fiber content. As an outcome from the workshop held at the 2019 ASTA Meeting, the team identified biological and market-based strategies to improve seed production of hybrid corn. An upcoming manuscript will fully develop findings from the workshop and additional input from our advisory board.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Corn and Soil Health Team. 2020. Ears to the Ground Virtual Field Day Series. Part 1: Soil Nitrogen Tests Overview Available online at: 121 views through 09/08/2020.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Corn and Soil Health Team. 2020. Ears to the Ground Virtual Field Day Series. Part 2: ISNT and PSNT Soil Nitrogen Tests. Available online at: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXx9xU7mfAI> 94 views through 09/08/2020.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Corn and Soil Health Team. 2020. Ears to the Ground Virtual Field Day Series. Part 3: Solvita and SLAN Soil Nitrogen Tests. Available online at: 108 views through 09/08/2020.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Corn and Soil Health Team. 2020. Ears to the Ground Virtual Field Day Series. Part 4: Soil N Tests on On-Farm Studies. Available online at: 96 views through 09/08/2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Goldstein, W., White, J., Mujjabi, C., Gulkirpik, E., Toc, M., Bohn, M., Andrade, J.E., Ugarte, C., Nunez, M., Karnes, J., Lotfi, A., Kingsley, K., Travis, M., Wander, M., Jaradat, A., Mohr, S. and Organic Farmers. 2020. Breeding and Testing Nitrogen Efficient/Fixing Corn with High Methionine and Carotenoid Contents for Organic Farmers. Poster presented at: MOSES Organic Farming Conference; 2020 Feb 27-29; LaCrosse, WI.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Mujjabi, C. and Bohn, M. 2020. Participatory Plant Breeding: Effect of Agronomic Management Intensity on Below-Ground and Above-Ground Corn Traits Under Organic Systems. Poster presented at: 5th Biennial Plant Breeding Symposium, February 2020; North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Mujjabi, C., Ghimire, B., Gulkirpik, E., N��ez, M., Ugarte, C., Bohn, M., Wander, M. and Andrade, J. 2019. Participatory Breeding and Testing Networks: Corn Variety Development and Selection for High Nitrogen-Use Efficiency, Weed Pressure Tolerance and High Grain Quality for Organic Systems. Poster presented at: 2019 Illinois Corn Breeders School, March 2019; Champaign, IL.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Gulkirpik, E. Toc, M. Bogran, G. Katrakis, C. Ugarte, C.M. and Andrade, J.E. 2019. Effect of Nitrogen Levels on the Nutrient Quality of Corn Under Organic Management. Poster Presented at AACC International, November, 2019; Denver, CO.
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project includes groups of farmers, seed producers, researchers, educators, public and private plant breeders, food scientists and processors, and end-users of organic products interested in supporting a participatory testing network that will inform future breeding efforts to meet the needs and wants of end-users of organic germplasm. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Todate, the project has involved four graduate students who have been instrumental in coordinating on-farm work, laboratory testing, and data management. This project has also provided training opportunities for undergraduate students within the University of Illinois and University of Illinois partners. A total of 11 undergraduate students contributed to the project and were trained in various field and laboratorymethods related to corn breeding, soil quality assessment, field plot maintenance, and grain quality evaluations. A student from Zamorano University (Honduras) who was part of the project in 2018 extended his post-graduation internship and has been involved in coordinating field activities during the 2019 growing season. In the Spring of 2019 an undergraduate student from Zamorano University completed a senior internship with the food science group a contributed to grain quality analysis using NIR-based methods. In the summer of 2019, anew student from Zhejiang University (China)contributed to protocol development for enzyme essays in the soils group. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Preliminary results have been disseminated at farmer conferences, field days, and online publications. Direct links to materials presented reside in our project website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Execution of activities for this project is on target. We continue to recruit farmers, seed producers, and processors that are interested in engaging in the participatory network.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our integrated Multi-Regional Project conducts advanced on-farm research to identify biophysical and social/legal factors influencing the performance of organic maize cultivars and dependent businesses. It exercises a participatory process that incorporates end-users into research and Extension activities done in concert with eOrganic to strengthen the organic seed supply and develop client-oriented breeding networks and business structures that deliver high-yielding, nutritious, N use efficient, weed-competitive genotypes adapted to organic systems. Efforts in Year 2 have focused on replicating work started in Year 1. More specifically we continue: 1) Collecting on-farm data that leads us to identify the factors influencing crop fitness and performance in organic farming systems; and 2) Understanding the attributes of seed and grain quality that is of interest to farmers, seed producers, processors and end-users.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Luby, C., A.B. Endres, M. Wander and C. Ugarte. 2018. A primer on plant breeding and intellectual property rights in organic seed systems. The eXtension Foundation. Available online at: .
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Bohn, M., W. Goldstein and W. Davison. 2019. Corn breeding for organic markets. The eXtension Foundation. Webinar available at: .
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Ugarte, C., M. Bohn, M. Wander, J. Andrade, W. Goldstein, C. Mujjabi, B. Ghimire and E. Gulkirpik. 2019. Participatory breeding and testing networks: A maize-based case study for organic systems. The Land Connection Organic Grain Conference. Champaign, Illinois.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Mujjabi, C., B. Ghimire, E. Gulkirpik, M. N��ez, C. Ugarte, M. Bohn, M. Wander and J. Andrade. 2019. Participatory breeding and testing networks: Corn variety development and selection for high nitrogen-use efficiency, weed pressure tolerance and high grain quality for organic systems. 55th Annual Illinois Corn Breeders School. Champaign, Illinois.
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project includes groups of farmers, researchers, educators, public and private plant breeders, food scientists and processors, and end-users of organic products interested in supporting a participatory testing network that will inform future breeding efforts to meet the needs and wants of end-users of organic germplasm. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided training opportunities for undergraduate students from institutions that partner with the University of Illinois through the Office of International Programs in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. One student from Zamorano University (Honduras) and one student from Zhejiang University (China) have been involved in soilhealth evaluations and corn breeding research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Execution of activities for this project is on target. PIs are reaching out to more farmers that are interested in engaging in the participatory network.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our integrated Multi-Regional Project conducts advanced on-farm research to identify biophysicaland social/legal factors influencing the performance of organic maize cultivars and dependent businesses. It exercises a participatory process that incorporates end-users into research and Extension activities done in concert with eOrganic to strengthen the organic seed supply and develop client-oriented breeding networks and business structures that deliver high-yielding, nutritious, nitrogenuse efficient, weed-competitive genotypes adapted to organic systems. Efforts in Year Onefocused on: 1) establishing protocols for testing and determining suitable mechanisms to support long-lasting participatory testing networks; 2) designing, implementing, and collecting on-farm data that leads us to identify the factors influencing crop fitness and performance in organic farming systems; and 3) to understand the multiple ways in which the plant breeding landscape has been changing and how plant varieties are owned and protected with intellectual property rights. This is important as plant breeders and researchers will require new ways of approaching plant breeding to serve the needs of participatory networks.
Publications
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