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Resources by Maria Balota

Title Available As Summary Date ID Author
2017 Virginia Grain Sorghum Performance Tests Feb 21, 2018 CSES-227
2020 Peanut Variety and Quality Evaluation Results. I. Agronomic and Grade Data Feb 18, 2021 SPES-302NP
Peanut Variety and Quality 2020 Results. II. Quality Data Mar 22, 2021 SPES-309NP
2023 Virginia Peanut Production Guide Jan 3, 2023 SPES-367NP (SPES-451NP)
Peanut Variety and Quality Evaluation Results I. Agronomic and Grade Data Feb 18, 2022 SPES-382NP
2021 Peanut Variety and Quality Evaluation Results - Quality Data Mar 24, 2022 SPES-395NP
Peanut Variety and Quality Evaluation 2022 I. Agronomic and Grade Data Feb 22, 2023 SPES-475NP
Lessons learned from peanut variety testing in 2022 Apr 24, 2023 SPES-485NP
Peanut Variety and Quality Evaluation Results 2022 Apr 21, 2023 SPES-499NP
Prohexadione Calcium or Seed Aging?
Peanut is a “cash” commodity for Virginians and most farmers grow this crop for certified seed. Seed quality and germination in particular are, therefore, very important. Even though the 2022 results were inconclusive, potential for prohexadione calcium to reduce germination and increase abnormal seedling production was clearly suggested by these data. The inconclusiveness could have been the result of a combination of factors, other than PC, affecting seed quality during storage. A differential response of the cultivars to both, seed aging and PC, was clearly suggested by our preliminary data. Evidence that PC may affect the seed quality, through seed weight, was also notable from the 2022 tests.
Feb 13, 2024 SPES-581NP
Faba Bean: A Multipurpose Specialty Crop for the Mid-Atlantic USA
Faba bean (Vicia faba L.), also known as fava bean, broad bean, horse bean, or Windsor bean, is a leguminous crop used as food, feed, forage, or cover crop in different parts of the world. This crop can be used for food, feed, and as a ground cover crop. It is highly nutritious and has high protein content, the second after soybean when comparing with the common grown legumes including, dry beans, lentils, peas, cowpeas, and chickpeas. The high protein content makes faba bean an excellent source for plant-based foods, like meat and milk. Compared to the other cool-season legumes such as pea and lupin, faba bean can attain and fix substantially more nitrogen from the atmosphere to soil. Because of temperature increase during summer, a winter crop can ensure cropping system diversification while minimizing the negative effects of summer heat on yield and economic return, and this crop can potentially be faba bean. A USDA-funded project at the Virginia Tech’ s Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center (TAREC) in Suffolk, VA, is focused on introduction of faba bean as a winter seed crop with multiple benefits for the Mid-Atlantic cropping systems. The project includes collaborators from the University of Maryland, University of Delaware, North Carolina State University, and University of Georgia, in addition to the Virginia State University and Virginia Tech. Started in 2023 and lasting until 2027, the project will address objectives related to cultivar development through breeding, genetics and physiological strategies, identification of the best agronomic practices to maximize yield and economic return, economic and marketing logistics, and consumer acceptance. As the results became available, the PI will provide updates on this new crop for the region.
SPES-590NP