Project Pawpaw plants first
Pawpaw Research & Breeding Orchard
We are thrilled to announce the planting of our first Project Pawpaw Research & Breeding Orchard in April 2024. With the help of many close friends and supporters (all of which are not pictured), we planted this 800 tree orchard over the course of just a few days!
The planting features woven ground cover to reduce weed management needs, buried irrigation, and paperboard tree protectors as an eco-friendly solution for first year establishment shelter. These select seedling trees will be grafted in 2-3 years with a combination of known varieties and experimental material and will allow us to evaluate all of the available varieties of pawpaw in a replicated experiment, and to develop new tools that will enable more efficient breeding of the next generation of pawpaw cultivars. More information about the orchard design and planting here.
Planting like these are essential for advancing research and breeding in crops like pawpaws, which are under-supported in the current food system. These plantings are also very expensive and time consuming to establish and maintain, which is why we thank this community for their continuing support of this crowdfunded effort!
The orchard was planted in collaboration with Dr. David Hlubik of Hlubik Farms in Chesterfield, New Jersey. David completed his PhD at Rutgers University where he studied hazelnut breeding and genetics. He's joined the team as a Research Farm Manager and will get to continue to use his experience in farm management, woody plant care, and plant breeding!
Planting Details
The site of this orchard was selected for its relatively flat topography and homogenous, sandy soils. This will allow us to minimize environmental variation across the field. Southern New Jersey is an ideal location for this orchard due to its isolation from wild stands of pawpaws, which will help to keep the orchard free from pests or disease. A source of healthy, disease free plant material is an essential first step toward further developing the pawpaw industry.
The site of the orchard has been in conventional vegetable production for 75 years. Field preparation included termination of the rye cover crop and laying woven ground cover onto raised beds using a plastic mulch layer, with drip tape beneath the fabric. A low mow vineyard mix was established in the alleys and was selected for reduced mowing requirements and lower potential for fostering mouse and vole populations. Each tree was planted in a paperboard tree protector for the first growing season, as earlier trials performed at this farm showed the highest rates of survival in spring planted seedlings with tree shelters. A census performed three months after planting showed a ~90% survival rate in the in the orchard.
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The orchard is approximately 1 acre and planted into rows on 12 foot centers with 5 foot in-row spacing, which is a higher density than would be recommended for commercial production. This decision was made to provide the population size required to develop tools for pawpaw breeding and give the best chance of finding superior seedlings. As the planting matures, a portion of these trees will be used for scionwood production and thus kept smaller so as to not interfere with fruit production.
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The seedlings planted are open pollinated progeny from an isolated stand of full-sibling trees with origins in the Cornell orchards. Three years after establishment, the seeedlings will be topworked with named cultivars and scion of seedlings from controlled crosses in a partially replicated (p-rep) experimental design. As the trees begin to fruit, data will be collected on flowering, fruit quality and composition, and key agronomic traits. Beyond simply evaluating seedlings for potential cultivar release, the planting is being designed to be used for Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and as a training population for Genomic Selection (GS), both of which will enable faster and more efficient pawpaw breeding in the future.
Funding for this orchard was raised entirely through the sale of pawpaw seedlings, shirts, grafting knives, and other merchandise at festivals and farmer’s markets and through the Project Pawpaw online store. The second research orchard is planned to be planted in Wisconsin in Spring of 2025, with future locations and collaborators in the lower midwest, southeast, and mid-atlantic regions being sought.
