Florida Sustainable Agriculture

Research

Enhancing Seed Production of Regionally Adapted Crops in the Southeastern Farmer Seed System

Yukina savoy seed pod measured post-harvest in the UF Environmental Horticulture seed biology lab in Gainesville, FL (PC: M.T. Davidson)

Research Objectives

Assess relationships between fruit/seed phenology and physiological aspects of seed development to identify harvest timing thresholds for maintenance of seed quality
Compare desiccant-based drying technologies that maintain quality of crop seeds produced in warm, humid environments
Develop a socio-ecological model of farmer decision-making that accounts for the roles of economic factors, farmer expertise, known and unknown risks, and potential benefits
Perform quantitative economic and risk analyses that examine the economic feasibility of new production methods for selected crop seeds

Project Details

This work is supported by Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) project no. LS19-315 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. View the final project report.

Activities

Project Timeline

Season	Activity	Location
Fall 2019: Sept – Dec	Yukina savoy planted (year 1)	Siembra Farm UF Field and Fork Farm Frog Song Organics Farm
Spring 2020: Jan – Apr	Yukina savoy flowers tagged: fruit phenology study seed development study seed desiccation study	Siembra Farm UF Field and Fork Farm Frog Song Organics Farm
	Yukina savoy seeds harvested: seed drying experiment seed storage experiment	Siembra Farm UF Field and Fork Farm Frog Song Organics Farm
	Milkweed planted (year 1)	Florida Wildflower Cooperative Farm
	Bellevue butternut planted (year 1)	Siembra Farm UF Field and Fork Farm
	Cowpea planted (year 1)	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
Summer 2020: May – Aug	Bellevue butternut flowers tagged: fruit phenology study seed development study seed desiccation study	Siembra Farm UF Field and Fork Farm
	Bellevue butternut seeds harvested: seed drying experiment seed storage experiment	Siembra Farm UF Field and Fork Farm
	Milkweed flowers tagged: fruit phenology study seed development study seed desiccation study	Florida Wildflower Cooperative Farm
	Milkweed seeds harvested: seed drying experiment seed storage experiment	Florida Wildflower Cooperative Farm
	Cowpea flowers tagged: fruit phenology study seed development study seed desiccation study	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
Fall 2020: Sept – Dec	Cowpea seeds harvested: seed drying experiment seed storage experiment	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
	Yukina savoy seed experiments (year 1): storage assay growth experiment field establishment study	UF Seed Biology Lab
	Bellevue butternut seed experiments (year 1): storage assay growth experiment field establishment study	UF Seed Biology Lab
Spring 2021: Jan – Apr	Producer Expert Panel Meeting (1)	Virtual
	Yukina savoy planted (year 2)	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
	Cowpea seed experiments (year 1): storage assay growth experiment field establishment study	UF Seed Biology Lab
	Yukina savoy flowers tagged: fruit phenology study seed development study seed desiccation study	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
Summer 2021: May – Aug	Yukina savoy seeds harvested: seed drying experiment seed storage experiment	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
	Bellevue butternut planted (year 2)	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
	Cowpea planted (year 2)	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
	Milkweed flowers tagged: fruit phenology study seed development study seed desiccation study	Florida Wildflower Cooperative Farm
	Milkweed seeds harvested: seed drying experiment seed storage experiment	Florida Wildflower Cooperative Farm
	Bellevue butternut flowers tagged: fruit phenology study seed development study seed desiccation study	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
	Bellevue butternut seeds harvested: seed drying experiment seed storage experiment	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
Fall 2021: Sept – Dec	Cowpea flowers tagged: fruit phenology study seed development study seed desiccation study	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
	Producer Expert Panel Meeting (2)	Virtual
	Cowpea seeds harvested: seed drying experiment seed storage experiment	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
	Yukina savoy planted (year 3)	Siembra Farm The Family Garden UF Field and Fork Farm
	Yukina savoy seed experiments (year 2): storage assay growth experiment field establishment study	UF Seed Biology Lab

Photos
- Bellevue Butternut

Team Members
University of Florida

Hector Perez, Ph.D. (Lead Project Investigator)

Department of Environmental Horticulture
352-273-4503
Email
Website

Jorge Ruiz-Menjivar, Ph.D.

Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences
352-294-1380
Email
Website

Tere Davidson, M.S.

Department of Environmental Horticulture
Email
Website

Kaylene Sattanno, B.S.

Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences
352-273-3530
Email

Working Food

Melissa DeSa, M.S.

Community Programs Director and SeedEO
Email
Website

Collaborating Farms
- Siembra Farm
- The Family Garden
- UF Field and Fork Farm
- Wildflowers of Florida, Inc.