The University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources has been granted $1.5 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative to study diseases affecting the lima/butter beans.
Delaware is the second largest state to produce large quantities of lima/butter beans, after California.
The humid climate of Delaware promotes fungus in these crops which in turn lead to varied diseases.
Researchers from UD, University of Maryland, Ohio State University, Cornell University and the University of California Davis will study different diseases affecting this plant - downy mildew, pod blight, white mold, root knot nematodes and germplasm resources.
"One of the biggest challenges in lima beans over the years has been various plant diseases and fungus that attack the plant," Delaware's secretary of agriculture Ed Kee told Washington Examiner. "All of these diseases can really hurt yields, and they can be chronic, but they can also be acute. In some years it's not as big a deal but in others it can cause severe economic loss."
The objectives of this research project is developing risk management strategies, disease resistant and drought resistant plants and merging different DNA strands of lima beans to produce new varieties.
William Donald Clifton II, a resident of Milford, grows about 800 acres of lima beans.
Clifton was pleased to know that UD had secured the grant.
"Other extension services go after the grants on the big crops, like corn and soybeans, but limas are a small crop and very important to us locally. The variety trials are important for that. This research is very important," Clifton told UD.
In addition to these researchers, field personnel, undergraduates and eight graduate students will be associated with the project.
Nicole Donofrio, associate professor of plant molecular pathology in the Plant and Soil Sciences Department, UD told Washington Examiner that extensive research will lead to stronger crop yields.
