Brent Loy
Brent Loy has been in the Department of Plant Biology at UNH for 38 years, and currently teaches classes on Plant Genetics, Plant Breeding, Vegetable Crops, and Crop Production Technologies. His current research focuses primarily on breeding and genetics of cucurbits (vine crops in the family Cucurbitaceae), and on the physiology of plant productivity and factors affecting eating quality. Additional breeding work is being done with tomato. Previously he was involved in research on development of plastic mulches and rowcovers for crop production, and continues to have a minor involvement in this work. The cucurbits include a number of crops economically important in New England such as melons, squash, pumpkins, and gourds. "In New England most locally grown vegetables are sold retail through roadside and farmers' cooperative markets", Loy says. "To maintain a competitive edge and profitability for locally grown produce, growers need to have new vegetable cultivars adapted to the short growing season in our area, that are resistant to plant pests, and that have high culinary appeal for customers".
Plant breeding is done both in the greenhouse and field. However, summer is a particularly busy time for Loy. For the past several years he has had about 4 to 5 acres of cucurbits in different plots at the Woodman and Kingman Research Farms. At the beginning of June, all plots are carefully seeded by hand. Later in the summer, when the pumpkins and squash plants are in bloom, Brent and his research assistants can be seen early in the morning in the pumpkin or squash fields, pollinating flowers to develop new strains for producing new hybrid varieties.
During harvest time, fruits are selected in the field and then tested for traits such as color, texture, flavor, flesh thickness, solids content (% dry matter), sugar content and taste of the flesh.
Seeds are extracted from the fruits, washed, dried and stored to produce the next generation of progeny. After several generations of self fertilization and selection, new strains of melons, gourds, pumpkin and squash become genetically uniform and can then be used to make F1 crosses (F1 hybrids). F1 hybrid varieties are preferred by seed companies because of their hybrid vigor, uniformity, adaptability to different environments, and greater profitability as compared to open pollinated varieties.
Melon breeding is one of Loy's most important research areas. Melons (Cucumis melo) have increasing importance in New England agriculture because of their high customer appeal and economic return per acre. "I try to develop new cantaloupe, Galia, and honeydew melons that are adapted to our short growing season", Brent says.
Another breeding objective is to incorporate resistance to powdery mildew and fusarium wilt diseases into new melon varieties. "We sow melons at the end of August in pots in the greenhouse. We make pollinations to develop experimental F1 hybrids, harvest the fruits in November, and sow a second crop at the beginning of January to make a preliminary screening in the spring. Then we put out larger populations of hybrids in the field for evaluation in the summer. This allows us to have three generations per year", he explains. In the greenhouse, melons are grown vertically, trained on a single stem, and fruits are suspended in slings to support their weight. With this crop, Loy has also conducted research to develop better cultural methods, such as using plastic mulches and rowcovers that will extend the growing season.
Winter squash, pumpkins and gourds are popular crops harvested in the fall. " I am trying to get better varieties that will have a more uniform growth habit, more restricted vine growth, and early maturity", Loy says.
Most of the older varieties typically have sprawling vines. A trait Loy seeks to introduce in his new varieties is the bush or semi-bush growth habit. These plants can be spaced more closely and provide an earlier and more dense leaf canopy that shades out weeds, allowing for more sustainable weed control. They typically mature and can be harvested earlier than vine cultivars, and are also more compatible with multiple cropping schemes. With these crops, it is possible to pollinate flowers in the field to develop specific breeding lines. Some of these lines are then sown in the greenhouse the following spring to self the plants and develop a second generation, allowing two generations per year.
There are different types of winter squash. In past years, Loy bred large-fruited, orange-skinned types (Cucurbita maxima) that were used for processing into baby food, pie stock and frozen foods.
However, that industry has waned and so there is much less emphasis on that project. Currently, most of Loy's squash breeding efforts involve buttercup and kabocha strains (Cucurbita maxima), as well as acorn varieties (Cucurbita pepo). These squash are popular in the fresh market trade and have high culinary appeal. "Kabocha are similar in quality to buttercup, but tend to be more flattened in shape, have more mottled green skin, and lack the protruding button distinctive to buttercups", Brent explains. "These squashes have much higher quality than the popular butternut varieties, but do not store as well.”
Ornamental pumpkins such as Jack o'lanterns, the smaller pie pumpkins and ornamental gourds are also members of Cucurbita pepo. For Jack o' lantern type pumpkins which are used for Halloween decorations, Brent selects for bright orange color, strong stems on the fruit, and field tolerance to fruit rot and powdery mildew.
Pie pumpkins are usually smaller, and must contain flesh with high dry matter. About 14 varieties developed either solely at UNH or in conjunction with other seed companies are being sold commercially. Another more recent breeding project has been to develop new varieties of ornamental egg and spoon gourds. Although these gourds are potentially a popular item for roadside markets, the commercial egg and spoon varieties currently available are not very productive and require a longer growing season than exists in much of New England. The new varieties being bred have a bush habit of growth, a much shorter maturity than previous varieties, and come in a variety of colors and patterns that previously had not existed in these types of gourds. Several new varieties have been released and seed of these varieties is being produced for commercial introduction.
Brent Loy's innovative pumpkin breeding project consists also in developing hull-less seeded pumpkins for the snackseed trade. "An under-exploited market for pumpkins is the use of seeds for food", he says.
"Pumpkin seeds are very nutritious, with exceptionally high levels of protein (30 - 40%) and vegetable oil (40 - 50%)". But, to be able to eat the seeds, the leathery outer skin called the hull (botanically the seed coat)needs to be removed. That process is now done by hand, which is very labor-intensive and expensive. However, a genetic trait for thin seed coat exists in pumpkins, which results in hull-less seeds. Loy has introduced the hull-less trait into pumpkin varieties that produce high seed yields and larger seed. To determine the important factors that contribute to high seed yield, and to develop the best cultural techniques for obtaining high yields, it has been necessary to conduct research on the physiology of yield. Several undergraduate and graduate students have contributed to this research effort. Loy has discovered that the highest seed yields are obtained from varieties with small fruits (1.8 to 3.3 lbs) and from plants with a more compact growth habit. He has already released his first hull-less seeded variety 'Snackjack', and another variety (NH1041) bred primarily for commercial use.
One of the more recent innovative squash projects has been to develop new `glabrous' varieties of summer squash that have smooth glossy stems and are largely absent of prickly spines. The advantages of these new varieties are pretty obvious; the squash can be harvested without irritating the pickers' hands and the fruit do not get scratched as easily. Several yellow straightneck hybrids have been evaluated and found to be as early and yield as well as the best commercial varieties. Hollar Seeds is currently producing some of these new varieties for future commercial release.
A recent addition to Loy's research is breeding tomatoes. He started the tomato project at his farm as a hobby, but to make more rapid progress and use greenhouse facilities, has incorporated the project into the UNH program.
"I am trying to develop new varieties of orange tomatoes that are earlier and have improved taste and eating quality. These tomatoes have a high b-carotene content, a precursor of vitamin A and important for healthy eyes. Currently these tomatoes make up less than 1% of the tomato market, but with better varieties, I believe they could comprise 20% or more of the market", Brent explains. The orange tomatoes, in addition to their health benefit, add a nice bright color to salads. The first variety, `Orange Blossom', an early maturing slicing tomato, was offered for commercial sale in 2004 through Johnny's Selected Seeds. New hybrids are currently being tested that have larger fruit and a plant growth habit more amenable to trellising.
For the past several years, Loy has had the help of technician Susan Clark. "I could not do all the breeding work without her help. She does all the disease screening, helps supervise the student labor, and assists during all phases of breeding", he says.
Brent's efforts have paid off, and many of his new varieties are already commercially available. Concerning research conducted during the past years, Loy explains that "crop improvement not only involves development of new varieties, but an understanding of crop physiology, plant pathology (plant diseases), and crop culture. Research in these areas must accompany breeding efforts, and provides research projects for undergraduate and graduate students as well as providing the necessary knowledge for successful improvement and release of new varieties. This in turn is an appropriate application of the central theme of a Landgrant University and the primary mission of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, which is “to provide support for research that will contribute to agriculture, the rural community, and consumers of agricultural products".
