Tag Horticulture

Industry helps create new potato breeding professorship

June 14, 2013

Advances in biotechnology such as DNA sequencing have helped speed the pace of plant breeding in many food crops, but applying these tools to the potato, which has an extra set of chromosomes, has been a bit more difficult.

UW–Madison to lead national effort to improve quality of processed potatoes

October 14, 2011

University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have been selected to lead a national, multi-institution effort to improve the quality and safety of processed potatoes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced today (Oct. 14).

UW-Madison scientists create low-acrylamide potato lines

June 9, 2011

What do Americans love more than French fries and potato chips? Not much-but perhaps we love them more than we ought to. Fat and calories aside, both foods contain high levels of a compound called acrylamide, a potential carcinogen.

Eight UW–Madison faculty honored as AAAS fellows

January 11, 2011

Eight members of the University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), it was announced today (Jan. 11).

Curiosities: Are “baby” carrots really … baby carrots?

September 20, 2010

Sadly, not really. “There’s something very convenient about (baby carrots), and kids seem to enjoy it. It means more people eating vegetables, and I…

Recent sightings: Climbing up

April 9, 2010

Students in Professor Laura Jull’s Horticulture 375 class watch a demonstration by certified arborist Sean Gere (center) during a tree-climbing lab conducted at the…

Late blight won’t affect availability or quality of Wisconsin’s potato crop

September 8, 2009

News about late blight has raised concerns among retailers, processors and other users about the availability and quality of stored potatoes in Wisconsin this winter, reports A.J. Bussan, University of Wisconsin–Madison extension vegetable specialist. But Bussan doesn't think that either quality or quantity will be a problem.

Keeping it local: UW–Madison diners get ‘homegrown’ veggies

July 21, 2009

A new local food initiative on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus is starting very close to home.

Hot subjects—Horticulture 375: Organic Agriculture Colloquium

February 15, 2008

After two years of teaching an experimental colloquium on organic farming, horticulture professor Jim Nienhuis is no longer surprised by the diversity of majors interested in his class.

Using DNA, scientists hunt for the roots of the modern potato

January 28, 2008

More than 99 percent of all modern potato varieties planted today are the direct descendents of varieties that once grew in the lowlands of south-central Chile. How Chilean germplasm came to dominate the modern potato-which spread worldwide from Europe-has been the subject of a long, contentious debate among scientists.

West Madison urban horticulture field day set for Aug. 18

July 27, 2007

Want to make your green thumb even greener? Stop by the Urban Horticulture Field Day at the University of Wisconsin–Madison's West Madison Agricultural Research Station, on Saturday, August 18, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Gardeners invited to Family Horticulture Day

April 19, 2007

Tired of the same old backyard bounty? Maybe it's time to plant some red, pink or blue popcorn, or white, purple or black carrots.