From Starch Content to Disease Resistance, Plant Breeding Offers Solutions

The Grower & The Economist

Andrew Ogden is this week's guest expert. He is a plant breeder and a horticulturalist by training, but didn't grow up on a farm. For over a decade he has owned and operated a farm in Costa Rica. He went back to school because he wanted to empirically test many of the organic methods, which would ultimately help growers. This summer he completed his dissertation at University of New Hampshire. In addition to earning a PhD, he also got to name a new gene responsible for powdery mildew resistance. Andrew shares his research, his farming experience, and gives us a crash course in grafted plants.