Researchers Hope to Protect Sweet Corn From Disease

By Roxy Todd

For farmers, December and January is a time to plan next year’s harvest and order seeds. If you plan to have a garden next year, you may already be flipping through seed catalogues. Doug Higgins, assistant professor and extension specialist at Virginia Tech, said some of the more popular seeds sell out, so you may want to get your orders in before February.

He and other researchers are trying to better understand one of the foods that’s grown across Virginia: sweet corn, and why it’s so susceptible to fungi and mold.

“It’s the worst, or it’s exasperated when you plant into cool, wet soils,” Higgins said.

He said commercial sweet corn growers try to plant as early as possible, because if you have the first corn of the season, you get the best price.

His team was recently awarded a specialty crop grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to collect seedlings from across Virginia and study what’s killing sweet corn.

“And then once we know which pathogens are there it will help us tailor in that seed treatment to be more specific to Virginia,” Higgins said.