ounces per day of some nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.” Also, pecans qualify to bear the American Heart Association’s HeartCheck mark, which is the symbol of a program that organization launched in 1995 to help grocery shoppers quickly and easily identify heart-healthy foods. The pecan industry was excited to learn recently that University of Georgia food science professor Ron Pegg will coordinate a major national study to further define the components and nutritional benefits of pecans. The study, funded by a $1.2 million federal grant, is a team effort involving participants from several states. Auburn horticulture professor and Extension specialist Bill Goff (this article’s author) is a senior adviser to the grant team.
Research Pecan trees are among the largest plants in the world that are managed intensively for crops. The size of the trees makes spraying, shaking, harvesting, hedging, and many other tasks difficult, expensive, and cumbersome. The machines needed for these tasks are large, powerful, and very costly. Any attempt to manage such pecan trees economically demands the efficiency gained through intensive research. Auburn’s program is a part of a national cooperative effort among universities, USDA,
private foundations, and growers to learn how to manage this crop. Cultivar evaluations: One of the main pecan research contributions from Auburn is its involvement in cultivar selection and evaluation. Because cultivars perform differently in different locations, and because strains of the damaging pecan scab fungus vary by location, it is important to have tests in multiple locations. Auburn has replicated pecan cultivar evaluations in five locations: • E. V. Smith Research Center near Tallassee— Cultivar evaluations here are overseen by research assistant Cathy Browne and associate director Jason Burkett. The important task of screening pecan selections for scab is conducted at this location. In cooperation with the USDA pecan breeding program, based in College Station, Texas, Auburn screens USDA pecans for scab in a location where scab incidence is much higher than where the pecans were developed. This ”acid test” often identifies disease-susceptible selections better than they have been identified at other locations, preventing growers from planting cultivars that would be too difficult to grow. In addition to
the stringent scab screening, pecan cultivars that pass the screening are moved into highinput and low-input evaluations. The high input mimics commercial growers’ methods, while the low input identifies cultivars needing little spray that might be suitable for homeowners, organic producers, and small plantings where intensive spraying isn’t feasible. • Gulf Coast Research and Extension Center near Fairhope—Research associate Brian Wilkins and station director Malcolm Pegues oversee the research at this location in Alabama’s largest pecan-producing county. As at E.V. Smith, there are high-input and low-input separate tests. The 89 low-input test at Fairhope is being converted to organic, and once certification is obtained, will be the only organic-certified pecan cultivar test in the world. • North Alabama—Because of the shorter growing season and greater potential for freezes, a different set of cultivars would be adapted in north Alabama. To identify these, and to help expand the industry northward in the state and away from hurricanes, tests are in place at the Sand Mountain Research and Extension Center near Crossville and at