As autumn ushers in harvest season, the University of New Hampshire's cucurbit breeding program — North America's longest-running pumpkin and squash breeding program —continues to yield remarkable results. Led by New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station scientist Chris Hernandez, the team is hard at work gathering and studying hybrid varieties like 'Tetsukabuto' winter squash, a cross that blends the rich flavor of the kabocha with the disease resistance and long shelf-life of butternut squash.
Harvest team members, including Ella Lukacz '24 and Jeff Anderson, are pictured sorting and weighing this season's crops at UNH's Kingman Research Farm in Madbury. Vibrant photos of the harvest—set against a backdrop of sunflower cover crops and patches of zinnias (the latter to distinguish between cucurbit varieties)—are available upon request, showcasing the beauty of this colorful time of year.
UNH's cucurbit breeding program, first established in the 1940s, has produced more than 100 new varieties of squash, pumpkins, and melons and generated more than $2 million in royalties for the university through seed catalog sales worldwide. Hernandez, an assistant professor of plant breeding with UNH's College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, now leads the next chapter of this storied program, developing crops with improved yield, disease resistance, and nutrition, while collecting vital genetic data to preserve the program's legacy.
For more information:
NH Agricultural Experiment Station
Rudman Hall
University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH 03824, United States of America
Tel: (603) 862-1452
www.colsa.unh.edu
Christopher Hernandez
UNH Cucurbit Breeding
Tel: (603) 862-1368
Email: [email protected]
www.unhcucurbits.org