Tag: Plant Breeding

Breeding new crops and a new generation of plant breeders

by Scott Angle
May 16, 2026

The UF/IFAS team that has released more than 250 fruit, vegetable and other plant cultivars in the past decade is getting even stronger. Seven budding scientists from around the world arrived in Florida in August to work with Plant Breeders ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Curriculum, Fruits & Vegetables, Horticulture
Tags: Blueberries, CALS, EREC, Forages, GCREC, Lettuce, Ph.D., Plant Breeding, Small Grains, Strawberries, Tomatoes, TREC, UF-IFAS

Potato breeding program launches out of UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural Extension Center

by Tory Moore
May 15, 2026

Highlights · UF/IFAS has launched a potato breeding program based out of Hastings. · These varieties will be developed to withstand Florida’s intense growing pressures including heat, humidity, ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Hastings Agricultural Extension Center, Plant Breeders, Plant Breeding, Potatoes, TCAA, UF/IFAS Plant Breeding, UF/IFAS Varieties, Varieties, Variety

UF/IFAS awarded 1st Ph.D. plant breeding program in Florida, one of few in USA

by Brad Buck
May 15, 2026

Working in labs and fields across Florida, a new generation of students will start earning a Ph.D. in plant breeding from the University of Florida – the first program of its kind in Florida and one of a few in the nation. The UF/IFAS College ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS Research, UF/IFAS Teaching
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Citrus, College Of Agricultural And Life Sciences, Corn, Crops, Elaine Turner, Environmental Benefits, Fiber, Forage, Gene Editing, Genetics, Global Food Security, Hunger, Lettuce, New Program, Peanuts, Ph.D., Plant Breeding, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Vance Whitaker

Say ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ with a plant – maybe even one bred by UF/IFAS

by Brad Buck
May 15, 2026

Making mom breakfast or taking her out for lunch for Mother’s Day (May 14) are both nice gestures. But if you want something that lasts long and looks good, try giving her a plant, say University of Florida experts. “A beautiful live ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: Caladiums, Coleus, David Clark, Environmental Horticulture, Gift, Mother's Day, Plant Breeding, Plants, Social Interaction, Tia Silvasy, UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County, UF/IFAS Plant Breeding, Zhanao Deng

UF researchers find tomato plants resistant to devastating disease

by Brad Buck
May 15, 2026

University of Florida researchers may have found the key to developing tomatoes that can resist a catastrophic disease. Although it has been around for 50 years, target spot of tomato has become increasingly problematic during the last few ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture
Tags: Disease, Disease Resistance, Doctoral Student, Edgar Sierra, Fungicides, Fungus, Gulf Coast Research And Education Center, Horticultural Sciences, Plant Breeding, Sam Hutton, Target Spot, Tomatoes

UF/IFAS research: On the verge of developing a domestic industry for one of the world’s most valuable spices

by Lourdes Mederos
May 15, 2026

Vanilla takes the crown as the second most valuable spice (after saffron) and the world’s most popular flavor among consumers. Now, University of Florida researchers in Homestead are on the verge of developing a domestic vanilla industry, ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: Agriculture, Agroforestry, Agrotourism, Domestic Vanilla Industry, Florida, IFAS NEWS, News, Plant Breeding, Puerto Rico, Research, SARE, Spice, SSARE, TREC, Tropical Research And Education Center, U.S. Department Of Agriculture Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research And Education (USDA-SSARE), UF/IFAS Tropical Research And Education Center, USDA, Vanilla, Vanilla At TREC, Vanilla Extract, Vanilla Planifolia, Vanilla-breeding, Virgin Islands, Xingbo Wu

South Florida leaders will honor Miami-Dade County Farmers Month at UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center, Nov. 4

by Lourdes Mederos
May 15, 2026

On November 4, District 8 Miami-Dade County Commissioner Danielle Cohen-Higgins will kick off Miami-Dade Farmers Month at the 9th annual One Night in the Tropics. As title sponsor, she will join other South Florida leaders and the University ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Events, Natural Resources, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Biotechnology, Climate Change, Crop Breeding, Danielle Cohen-Higgins, District 8 Miami-Dade County Commissioner Danielle Cohen-Higgins, Ecosystems Sustainability, Extension Programs, Invasive Plant Pests And Disease Management, Miami-Dade County Farmers Month, Miami_Dade County District 8 Commissioner, News, One Night In The Tropics, Plant Breeding, Plant Pathology, Sea Level Rise, Seal Level Rise, Soil And Water Sciences, TREC, Tropical Fruit, UF/IFAS Tropical Research And Education Center, Vanilla At TREC

Prolific blueberry scientist named Horticulture Crop Breeding Endowed Chair

by Brad Buck
May 15, 2026

A veteran blueberry researcher has been named the University of Florida’s Horticulture Crop Breeding Endowed Chair, recognizing the royalties generated by the fruit varieties he’s developed for global farming and consumption. Patricio ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: Blueberries, Breeding, Chris Gunter, Cultivars, Horticultural Sciences, Horticulture Crop Breeding Endowed Chair, J. Scott Angle, Patricio Munoz, Plant Breeding, Southern Highbush Blueberry

White House officials tour UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center; admire AI initiatives, tout importance of cybersecurity

by Brad Buck
May 15, 2026

Responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) holds tremendous potential to make our world more prosperous and secure, while misuse of AI can lead to cybersecurity issues. Knowing that, White House officials toured the University of Florida ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, UF/IFAS
Tags: Agricultural And Biological Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Center For Applied Artificial Intelligence In Agriculture, Dana Choi, Digital Twin, Florida Institute For Cybersecurity Research, Gulf Coast Research And Education Center, HiPerGator, Horticultural Sciences, Jack Rechcigl, Jacob Braun, Kevin Wang, Natalia Peres, Nathan Boyd, Office Of The National Cyber Director, Plant Breeding, Plant Pathology, Precision Ag, White House

Machine-harvestable tomatoes available from UF/IFAS; growers hope cultivars can help lower labor cost

by Brad Buck
May 15, 2026

Ever since Florida farmers have been growing tomatoes, they’ve picked them by hand or hired laborers. It’s painstaking work that might be made easier soon with machine-harvestable tomatoes developed by University of Florida scientists. Now ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, UF/IFAS
Tags: Cultivar, Florida, Florida Tomato Committee, Growers, Gulf Coast Research And Education Center, Horticultural Sciences, Hybrid, Jay Scott, Jessica Chitwood-Brown, Machine Harvesting, Michael Schadler, Plant Breeding, Sam Hutton, Tomatoes

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