Designing cropping systems for insect control
Graduate student Jim Eckberg studies the use of willow to produce biomass and support beneficial insects to control soybean aphid with advisers Gregg Johnson and Don Wyse. Members of the Agronomy department are collaborating with George Heimpel and students in the Entomology Department to design cropping systems that enhance biological control of agricultural insect pests. This research is supported by a grant from the USDA- National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Developing markers to produce better seed
Austin loads a gel in a lab at the University of Minnesota. His goal is to develop markers to use in a soybean breeding pipeline. Ultimately, his research hopes to increase soybean seed composition by increasing levels of protein, oil, and sucrose in the seed.
Improving hardiness and disease resistance for grass species
The turfgrass research group at the University of Minnesota focuses on the improvement multiple grass species for use in home lawns, sports fields and golf courses. A perennial ryegrass space plant nursery is shown here and is being examined for varying levels of disease resistance. Additional selections will also be made in this nursery for winter hardiness and seed yield, which are important traits for turfgrass varieties produced in northern Minnesota.
Selecting fruit for disease resistance and fruit quality
The University of Minnesota has a world famous apple breeding program. Fruit from seedling lines are evaluated each fall in research orchards at the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center. Students in the program have helped develop DNA markers to aid in selection for important disease and fruit quality traits.
Fertilizers affect on chemopreventive compounds in broccoli
Graduate student Annie Doberstein researches how the timing and concentration of sulfur- and selenium-containing fertilizers affect the concentration of chemopreventive compounds in broccoli.
Photo credit: Waseca County News
