Healthy Plants. Healthy Industry.
Healthy Environment.
Plant health: It is absolutely critical to the success of agriculture in Washington and beyond. It is intricately connected to the health of the natural environment. It is also core to the mission of Washington State University’s Agricultural Research Center.
Since the agricultural experiment station’s inception in 1890, scientists at WSU have focused their work on plant health, from fundamental genetics and breeding to environmentally friendlier protection from plant and animal pests. In close partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and the state’s agricultural industry, WSU has purposefully and strategically invested in bringing some of the best plant scientists on the planet to Washington.
The results are impressive. Overall, WSU plant scientists have been ranked among the most productive in the world. In certain areas, such as fungal diseases of cereals, they have been considered world authorities. Today, WSU researchers lead the world in plant and virus research in tree fruit. The majority of WSU’s members of the National Academy of Science have been ARC scientists.
The work of those researchers is impressive as well. The late Bud Ryan, NAS member, figured out that when a plant is under attack it sends chemical signals to surrounding plants “telling” them that it’s being attacked. Joe Poovaiah discovered how some plants fix nitrogen into the soil through their roots and is working on transplanting that characteristic into plants that can’t fix their own nitrogen, reducing or eliminating the need for expensive nitrogen-based fertilizers. Jim Cook’s work in biotechnology and plant root diseases earned him a seat in the National Academy of Science.
A unique aspect of WSU’s plant science program is the location of its faculty members. Many of them are distributed across the state at research and extension centers in Wenatchee, Prosser, Mount Vernon, and Puyallup. In fact, WSU has one of, if not the, most disbursed faculty research base in the country. That proximity to real-world conditions in field and orchard as well as to WSU Extension educators and industry representatives helps to make research relevant and applicable.
Another factor in WSU’s plant science success is the fact that it boasts one of the few remaining, full-service plant pathology and entomology programs in the country.
Understanding that Mother Nature will always throw new challenges a farmer’s way, WSU scientists work to protect plant health by helping plants protect themselves by breeding in resistance to diseases. They are examining issues of epidemiology, how to contain infections and control them. And they are looking at new ways to cure disease and destructive pests – not by developing new chemicals, but by looking at new ways to use existing pesticides in the context of an overall integrated pest management plan.
Here are the stories of but a few of WSU’s internationally recognized plant scientists and the research they are conducting. Their goal? To meet the emerging needs of the agricultural industry in Washington by using science to ensure plant health and productivity.
- Debugging Berries
- O Christmas Tree(s)
- Diverse Roles Make for Rich Diversity
- Reducing Costly Fruit Rot
- Healthy Seed, Healthy Crops
- HIPPOs in the House
- Early Warning System for Late Blight
- Protecting Poplars
- Protecting Potatoes by Monitoring Aphids
- Seeking Answers for Grape Diseases
- Banning Smuts
- Mapping the Way to Improved Snow Mold Resistance
- Keeping the Lid on Sudden Oak Death
- Tree Fruit Genomics: Developing a Stress-free Future