@article{a1271af22b684706bce6763d556d4500,
title = "Specialty Crop Germplasm and Public Breeding Efforts in the United States",
abstract = "The United States Department of Agriculture/Agriculture Research Service/National Germplasm System (USDA/ARS/NGS) plant germplasm collections contain more than 600,000 different accessions of 16,289 species, including virtually all the ethnic and specialty crops of interest to United States (U.S.) agriculture. These and additional collections of plant seeds and asexual propagules are maintained at various laboratories and facilities geographically dispersed in the U.S. including NGS and many public land grant university institutions. The majority of these species fall under the definition of “specialty” crops since their utility is either narrow in scope or has not been fully developed. This paper summarizes the status of “specialty” and ethnic crop species germplasm in the U.S. including where the collections are maintained and how they are being used.",
keywords = "Dried fruits, Ethnic crops, Fruits and vegetables, Germplasm, Horticultural food crops, Nursery crops, Small fruits, Specialty crops, Spices, Tree nuts, United States of America",
author = "Thomas Orton and Albert Ayeni",
note = "Funding Information: The land grant university system has responded to this demand by consumers. While many land grant institutions sponsored plant breeding programs in major food crops starting in the early 20th century, they were reticent to allocate tax dollars to crops considered by many to be marginal. The first position for the author after finishing graduate studies was as a breeder of celery in California. The University of California Davis, Department of Vegetable Crops (now Plant Science) was charged with establishing this position in a relatively minor food crop after the industry rallied behind a new disease (Fusarium yellows) challenge that necessitated a plant breeding solution. The celery industry coalesced under the umbrella of an Advisory Board that raised funds through industry assessment to pay for this new position. This position still exists at UC Davis in 2021 and is still funded by the California celery industry. Over the decades many other challenges facing celery growers were also addressed by this source of financial support. This is an example of how research and development into specialty food crops is begun and perpetuated in the public sector. The establishment of new programs and faculty positions to oversee them rarely comes without prodding from an external force. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",
year = "2022",
month = feb,
doi = "https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12020239",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "12",
journal = "Agronomy",
issn = "2073-4395",
publisher = "MDPI AG",
number = "2",
}