- Clarksville Station to Celebrate 25th Anniversary
Associate Editor
Back then Robert Andersen from MSU’s Department of Horticulture was chairman of the committee for the development of the farm. By April 1976 the farm was completely paid for and awaiting an annual budget request of $50,000. That year the remnants of an old pear orchard could be observed. Trees weren’t planted on the property until 1980.
Today the annual budget for the Clarksville Horticultural Experiment Station (CHES) is $400,000 with a full-time staff of five and three Extension agents, according to Phil Schwallier, coordinator at the station. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the station, an open house is planned for Friday, Aug. 11.
Tours of the 440-acre station will take place beginning at 9 a.m. and immediately following a luncheon program. Tour participants will have the option to fully explore plots at the station or take a wagon tour with no stops for an update on what’s going on at the station.
Research at the Clarksville station in the past 25 years has helped growers produce higher yields at lower costs with less impact on the environment.
Highlights of 25 years of research include:
Research and genetics
• The station is home to the largest tart cherry germplasm and breeding program in the world, according to an informational brochure produced by MSU. A Hungarian (Balaton) variety has been imported and licensed.
• A new peach variety developed at Clarksville will be named soon.
• Resistance to cherry leaf spot is being bred into cherry varieties to reduce the need for chemical inputs.
• Scientists are using cherry germplasm to discover new rootstocks for tart and sweet cherries that grow fast with high yields.
• Researchers developed new methods for rooting cherry trees.
• Apple variety showcases give growers the opportunity to see trial results and decide which apples are best for their operations.
Growth and development
• Scientists developed low volume application practices for plant growth regulators – NAA, Accel, ReTain, GA - that became standards for the industry.
• Scientists found that gibberellin increased the cropping efficiency of tart cherry production and also promoted fruiting.
• Researchers found that the chemical ethephon could loosen cherries so they could be harvested by machine, saving growers time and money.
• Work at Clarksville led to the recommendation of low-volume application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) for chemical thinning in apples.
• Station trials found that ReTain, a fruit setting compound, improved the shelf life of fruit.
• Scientists experimented with orchard designs for cherry, peach and apple trees.
• Researchers found that the Vertical Axe was the best system for high-density apple production. The system has become a focal point for teaching and demonstration workshops for growers.
Stress
• Cold hardiness work on grapes has led to recommendations for cultivars and rootstocks.
• Scientists experimented with and developed techniques for growing stone fruit trees in raised beds so they could be grown on land that is not well drained.
• Researchers have put in lysimeters (large tanks that collect runoff water) in an apple orchard to determine water use and nitrogen uptake efficacy.
IPM management
• Scientists have found that apple, cherry and peach trees can sustain a certain level of damage from mites and other pests before fruit quality or yield is affected. This allows growers to use lower amounts of pesticides and spray less frequently.
• A microsprayer has been tested at Clarksville to mist pheromones to control insect pests. The microsprayers can be programmed to spray at specific times of the day and are durable enough to survive the elements.
Postharvest
• Root pruning experiments were found to control the size and quality of apple and peach trees.
• Research on CA storage of apples in the mid-1980s has changed the way apples are stored. CA storage slows the ripening process and allows apples to be stored much longer. Scientists found that storing apples in low oxygen rooms controls scald. Practically all the CA storage houses in the world have been converted to the methods and technologies discovered at MSU.
• The first nitrogen generator for CA storage was used at Clarksville.
• The first feedback monitoring for CA control rooms using computers for control was at Clarksville.
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