October 5, 2023 • 48 mins
In the second part of our two-part series on strawberries, and the final episode of Season 1, Sam talks with Dr. Jayesh Samtani, an Associate Professor and Small Fruit Extension Specialist at Virginia Tech. As an extension specialist, he does a lot of work connecting with growers and other extension agents, in Virginia and numerous other states. He also runs a research program, which has covered a variety of strawberry projects, including cultivar evaluations, soil disinfestation, strawberry plant nutrition, and season extension with high tunnels.
To learn more about Dr. Samtani go to https://www.arec.vaes.vt.edu/arec/hampton-roads/people/samtani-bio.html.
To read the HortTechnology article "The Status and Future of the Strawberry Industry in the United States" go to https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04135-18.
Learn more about the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) at https://ashs.org/.
HortTechnology, HortScience and the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science are all open-access and peer-reviewed journals, published by the American Society of Horticultural Science (ASHS). Find them at journals.ashs.org.
Consider becoming an ASHS member at https://ashs.org/page/Becomeamember!
You can also find the official webpage for Plants, People, Science at ashs.org/plantspeoplesciencepodcast, and we encourage you to send us feedback or suggestions at https://ashs.org/webinarpodcastsuggestion.
Podcast transcripts are available at https://plantspeoplescience.buzzsprout.com.
On LinkedIn find Sam Humphrey at linkedin.com/in/samson-humphrey. Curt Rom is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/curt-rom-611085134/. Lena Wilson is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-wilson-2531a5141/.
Thank you for listening!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sam Humphreys (00:07):
Welcome to Plants People Science, a podcast by
the American Society forHorticultural Science where we
talk about all thingshorticulture.
In today's episode we discusssmall-scale strawberry farms and
how these smaller farms stayafloat along large-scale
year-round strawberry productionfrom California.
Joining us today we have DrJayesh Santani, who is an
(00:28):
associate professor and smallfruit extension specialist at
Virginia Tech.
As an extension specialist, hedoes a lot of work connecting
with growers and other extensionagents in Virginia and numerous
other states.
He also runs a research programwhich has covered a variety of
strawberry projects, includingcultivar evaluations, soil
disinfestation, strawberry plantnutrition and season extension
(00:51):
with high tunnels.
Dr Santani earned his master'sdegree and PhD in horticulture
from the University of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign.
He spent four years as apost-doctoral scholar exploring
the strawberry industry in theDepartment of Plant Sciences at
the University of California.
Dr Santani, welcome, Thank youfor joining us.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (01:16):
Thank you, it's my pleasure.
Sam Humphreys (01:18):
So we're here to talk to you today about
strawberries.
We've spoken previously to DrGerald Holmes from California
and, as you know, moststrawberries are grown in
California, but there's still alot of strawberry production in
other states.
You are in Virginia, right,that's correct?
So what does the smaller-scalestrawberry production look like?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (01:45):
That's a good question when we think
about the strawberry crop atleast, when we did the survey in
Virginia, we set up our surveyso we considered small-scale
strawberry growers to be withinanywhere between 0.1 to 3 acres
under fruit, and thenmedium-sized growers were
(02:09):
considered growers that weregrowing strawberry fruit between
3 and 5 acres, and growers whogrew strawberry fruit on greater
than 5 acres were consideredlarge-scale growers.
So I'm not sure if this is inwhat USDA has defined, but
that's kind of how we kind ofset up our survey.
(02:30):
There's a broader definition byUSDA which defines small-scale,
medium-scale farms as well aslarge-scale farms, but that's a
lot larger than what we considersmall, medium and large for
strawberry fruit growers.
Sam Humphreys (02:48):
Interesting.
Yeah, so, in addition to thesmaller size of these, what
would you call them?
Eastern farms, non-californiafarms?
What phrase would you use?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (03:02):
Yeah, I think using Eastern strawberry
growers is, I think, a fair wayof defining where we are.
Sam Humphreys (03:09):
Okay, so are there other ways that the
Eastern strawberry growers aredifferent from the Western
strawberry growers?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (03:18):
I think so, based on what I have seen
traveling on both sides of thecountry.
I feel like the acreage there'sa big difference in acreage, as
most people who work withstrawberries know.
The other difference that wesee is the kind of diseases that
you notice.
(03:39):
Some of them are same acrossboth coasts but we do have a lot
more humidity, which kind ofbreeds slightly different
spectrum of diseases.
And then weeds are universal,so a lot of weed pressure is
seen on both the East and Westcoast of the US.
(04:01):
So there's some slightdifferences, I would say, in
terms of disease pressure.
And one of the big differencesthat I've also seen is how
growers kind of try to selltheir produce Out.
Here on the East coast we aretargeting mostly local markets
(04:22):
and direct sales to consumers.
So pick your own.
Strawberry is really big on theEast coast.
I would say it is probablythere on the West coast as well,
but it gets hidden.
Maybe with all the largercompanies and the large scale
(04:43):
strawberry growers out there whoare more into wholesaling,
exporting, processing, they kindof stand out more.
But maybe if you are fromCalifornia or one of the other
states on the West coast, youmay notice that you do have some
farm stands sellingstrawberries out there as well
(05:05):
as pick your own operations, butit's really very prominent, I
would say, on the East coast andto me that was one of the
striking differences I noticed,having worked on both sides of
the coast in the US.
So pick your own operations, Ithink ties in very well with
(05:26):
agri-tourism.
As we know, strawberries on theEast coast are planted in the
fall and they would give youfruits during the summer months
and that is really attractivebecause it's one of the first
crop that breaks flower and thengives you fruit.
(05:46):
It really is the first crop andthat's exciting because people
are just ready to venture outand experience the spring
weather and agri-tourism reallybecomes attractive to people who
want to spend time outdoors.
And I think that's one of thelarger differences I saw between
(06:08):
the two coasts.
The other difference that Ifeel is that the land is more
intensely managed on the Westcoast and on the East coast
because we have thisagri-tourism aspect to
strawberry.
You know, growers tend tospread out the beds, the
(06:29):
distance between the beds, sothat way people who come to
their farm have more walkingspace and they can actually not
kind of trip over, you know, asthey are trying to pick the
fruit while trying to find thebalance.
You know, making sure theirbalance is steady and they don't
(06:51):
trip is what I'm getting at.
Sam Humphreys (06:53):
Yeah, wow, so there are lots of differences,
then, between the Eastern andWestern.
You mentioned humidity, youmentioned labor and how the
strawberries are picked.
I was looking at your paperfrom 2019 that is an overview of
, let's say, the status andfuture of the strawberry
(07:15):
industry in the United States,and you talk about this
production system called annualhill production.
Can you describe what thatlooks like?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (07:25):
Sure.
So annual hill productionbasically involves most
conventional growers wouldinject a fumigant during the
process of bed making.
So it's really the wholeprocess of bed making where you
would use those beds to grow thestrawberries and that involves
injecting a fumigant for themost part if you're a
(07:46):
conventional grower.
But there are also, you know, alot of variations in how that
bed is.
You know how that chemical isused, so some growers would
prefer not to use the chemicalor may look at some more
alternative ways to disenfestthe soil.
It also involves running thedrip tape while you're making
(08:08):
the bed and then covering thewhole bed with plastic mulch
which you know is really thereto kind of conserve moisture so
we don't lose the moisture onthe bed from evaporation.
And also it does a good jobwith controlling some weeds.
(08:29):
It provides, you know, someweed benefits to the crop and
one of the most strikingadvantage I would say is also
protection from winter.
So you get that addedprotection to the roots from the
winter temperatures which Ithink again, if you think about
(08:51):
the East Coast growers, most ofthem have to think about winter
protection as well as frostprotection for the strawberry
crop.
Yeah, fantastic.
Sam Humphreys (09:01):
I was really struck by the part in this paper
it was just you know part of asentence where you mentioned
that annual hill production,like you just described, is used
in the Eastern and Westernparts of America.
But I mean, we've talked abouthow different these environments
are.
How different do they look.
(09:22):
Just, if you were out in thefield looking at this annual
hill production system, whatwould it look like between
California and the Eastern side?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (09:34):
Yeah, I think even you know, if you
think about Californiaproduction, there might be
slight variations there, butmost of the production really
happens along the coast and thesoils are sandy and those sandy
soils really allow the beds tobe pulled higher and in a sense
(09:58):
you can also create wider beds.
So you get these nice whitebeds that are higher as well.
So that allows the strawberrygrowers in California to maybe
plant even three rows ofstrawberries or four rows of
strawberries in that bed.
And that again goes back to,you know, optimizing the usage
(10:21):
of land and, as you can imagine,land on the the coastal Ends of
actually both, I would say,east and west coast.
They would be more expensivethan trying to have access to
land a little more inland.
And Strawberry a lot ofstrawberry production really
happens on the coast out on theeast coast we do have sandy
(10:44):
soils, but they're more sandyloam and a Lot of growers also
inland would grow strawberrieshere.
So as the soils become moreheavy it becomes hard to make
really, you know, high beds andthe beds here that you see on
the east coast are Not quite ashigh as what you would see on
(11:05):
the west coast and they are notas wide as well, so that you
know.
Keeping that in mind and thenalso the humidity that we face,
I think growers usually preferto go with two rows of
strawberry per bed and thosemight vary by varieties as well.
(11:27):
And again, varieties is oneother thing that may vary across
the the two ends of the, thecoast year.
On the East coast, you know, weare still very fond of Chandler
and older variety that wasreleased by UC Davis, but over
time, as researchers have shownthe value of diversification of
(11:49):
varieties, more and more growersare diversifying their varietal
selection, especially in this.
You know the last decade, whereclimate change and global
warming are often discussed andthey seem to be a threat to food
and sick.
You know food security.
Sam Humphreys (12:10):
So you've touched on this a little bit.
The challenges that thesegrowers are facing On the
eastern side of things, what arethe?
What would you say are the mainchallenges these strawberry
growers have to deal with?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (12:24):
Yeah, that's again a good question, things
that I see.
You know, labor.
Labor is a big issue forgrowing strawberry.
It's it's a high value crop, Iwould say, but also very labor
intensive, and you know that'swhere the pick your own
operations Helpful because thegrowers don't really have to
(12:45):
worry about picking the fruitand that can be very labor
intensive.
We touched upon diseases withhumidity, and you know that's
another challenge, I would say,and I would say One big
challenge also would be accessto plant material, because in
the past few years, you know,we've seen some promise with,
(13:08):
with the new varieties, andwe've often talked about using
them, you know, at farm Forconsumption and pick your own.
But a lot of times, you know,having access to these varieties
is a challenge, having accessto clean plant material is a
challenge.
And then also, I would say,getting the plant material in a
(13:33):
timely manner has been achallenge, and in some years,
because I know that In Virginiawe think about maybe planting
strawberries in spring, but oneof the challenges we face is not
having access to plant materialDuring the spring, and fall
seems to be the only time wherewe can really have access to
(13:55):
Pluck plant material.
Cut off, cut off, yeah.
Sam Humphreys (13:58):
Yeah, on top of disease and on top of you
mentioned weather events, thereare so many challenges.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (14:08):
There are, and I would say, despite that,
you know growers are willing totake up that little bit of risk
because it is a fruitful fruitand you know it has its own
rewards beyond challenges aswell.
Sam Humphreys (14:24):
Yeah, I am really excited you brought up the
access to plant material,because that's what my master's
project is on.
Yeah, that's fantastic.
Yeah, I think that's a greatchallenge.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (14:33):
Yeah, that's fantastic.
Yeah, I think that's importantyeah.
Sam Humphreys (14:36):
And so like, even though there are all of these
challenges facing strawberryproducers, it's it's concerning
to see that there are so manychallenges, but from my
perspective, like being in thescientific community and seeing
how many teams are just workingfrom all angles to make it
better like you are it's justheartening to me.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (15:03):
Yeah, yeah, it's important work that they're
doing there and you especiallyyou, with your, with your
program Thank you.
Sam Humphreys (15:11):
So one thing you said caught my eye.
You mentioned you describedstrawberries as a high value
crop, which is right.
I just I don't typically thinkof them that way, because I the
growers that I've spoken to andthe things that I've heard from
the scientists I work with, themargin of income can be so small
(15:33):
after you know all of the carethat it took to grow these crops
and all the money you have toput into the land in order to
get a strawberry.
And so I'm wondering how, howdo Eastern, these like small
scale Eastern producers competewith the bigger market of the
California strawberries?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (15:56):
I think the advantage of being on the East
Coast is, you know, we arecloser to the most densely
populated part of the US, so wehave access to the consumer base
.
What we don't have access to onthe East Coast is year round
supply of strawberry production,and that might change over time
(16:19):
with, you know, controlenvironment agriculture picking
up, and I know there arechallenges.
Currently we're trying to growstrawberries under control
environment agriculture, but Ibelieve NC State is doing some
research along those lines aswell, and you know Virginia Tech
has some effort going there aswell, and maybe a few other
universities are also focusingon control environment
(16:42):
agriculture and the future maybe bright there with, you know,
end of production for strawberryand just thinking about how, if
strawberries could be grownyear round and, just you know,
we don't have to worry about thefruit traveling all the way
from the West Coast orinternationally from Mexico to
(17:05):
provide fruit during the offseason to make that fruit
available year round, I thinkthat's really exciting.
But currently, you know, whatthe growers have been taking
advantage of is pick your ownoperations and when they bring,
when they bring consumers totheir farm, they are, you know,
(17:29):
putting other attractive thingsat the farm like play area.
They have some chickens outthere, some pigs out there for
kids to be excited about farmanimals.
And beyond excitement, there'san educational component to it.
Wekids and families will learnabout agriculture and the
(17:50):
importance of agriculture interm, you know, to the human
society really to provide food,to protect environment, to
enhance environment.
So all those aspects I thinkare very educational and very
important.
So I would say East Coastgrowers have been quite
(18:10):
proactive in promoting thataspect as well.
They also have farm standswhere if people don't have time
to pick strawberries or they,you know, the weather is too hot
for them or too wet for them togo out in the field they could
potentially pick up fruit fromthe farm stand and that's
(18:32):
attractive as well.
I think it's really I reallyenjoy, you know, driving by
those roads where you can seefarm stands and you see fresh
fruit out there.
You see jars of jams andjellies out there for sale.
I think that's very exciting tome in the context of, you know,
local food systems.
Sam Humphreys (18:52):
That's also.
I haven't thought about it inthat way before.
That it's almost communitybuilding.
You know, if you go to a farmstand once a week and you see
the same people there, or you goto a farmers market and you
sort of pull that into yourinternal list of like local
communities, I've never thoughtof how these small farmers and
(19:15):
these like pick your own placescan play a role in community
like that.
That's wonderful.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (19:25):
Yeah, I think you know that is, I think,
the most exciting part also tome and like you, I wasn't really
paying that much attentionearly on, but over time you kind
of realize how important andvaluable it is to the community.
Because you think about, youknow, not having that strawberry
farm that you're used to goingyear after year and people start
(19:48):
missing that then if they don'tsee the farm that they were
used to going year after yearand just having access to that
fresh local fruit, that's a lotmore flavorful, lot more
colorful.
It's just a differentexperience that you know
shipping something across thecountry is not going to
(20:11):
substitute that access to freshfruits.
Sam Humphreys (20:14):
Yeah, do you think I mean I, this is
beautiful little group offarmers that have these small
farms and produce fruits for asmuch of the years they can, but,
like you said, it's not allyear round, right?
Do you think that'll everchange?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (20:33):
It could.
You know, with weather changeswe are already seeing this year
we are picking longer thannormal.
We've been picking for aboutnine or ten weeks and that's not
very usual, I would say itdoesn't happen every year.
So we don't know what weatherpatterns are going to look like
in the future.
(20:54):
We don't know what the geneticsmight allow us to do and we
don't know what technologiesmight come into play that might
alter how we grow this fruit.
So I would say, you know, thehuman, with the human mind and
the human mindset, I would saynothing is impossible, but we
(21:17):
just don't know.
It looks like an excitingavenue to pursue, where fruit
could be available all summerlong.
The logistics will have to comeinto play, including, you know,
we touched upon access to plantmaterial, and that could be
again a defining factor as well.
Sam Humphreys (21:37):
Absolutely.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (21:38):
In terms of making fruit available year
round.
Sam Humphreys (21:40):
Absolutely yeah, it's so challenging and exciting
.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (21:46):
Yeah, it makes things exciting for
researchers and extensionspecialists.
Sam Humphreys (21:52):
Absolutely, and so on that exciting note, one
thing that I find interesting,and a lot of my peers do as well
, is the idea of automation androbotics I work with I'm friends
with people in my departmentwho are maybe working with crops
where there's more automation.
(22:13):
I don't see that muchautomation and robotics in
strawberry production right now,and I'm curious what you think
about robotics, because youmentioned it in your 2019 review
paper.
Do you think you could talkabout what sorts of technologies
you think would help strawberrygrowers?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (22:34):
I think they're.
You know, like you touched uponrobotics and most of what I've
seen is for the large scalestrawberry growers in California
, Florida and, as we discussed,the bed set up is a little
different there.
Maybe the genetic makeup ofvarieties would be different and
(22:59):
that plays a role on how easilyrobots can detect fruits on the
plant.
You know where we are.
We are surrounded with smallscale growers around us on the
east coast and I really thinkthat there's potential to
develop technology for smallscale growers, where maybe you
(23:24):
don't need six robotic armsworking at the same time, as we
saw through demonstrations atthe conferences in Florida and
California, but we need maybeonly one or two robotic arms
that would do the same thing,which would also reduce the cost
of owning that machine, becauseyou start talking about, you
(23:49):
know, $10,000, $15,000 equipment, that that's quite expensive
for our growers here on the eastcoast and I think having access
to cheap technology andsomething that will work well is
what would attract adoption ofthat technology.
(24:10):
I would say to do two growerson the east coast.
Sam Humphreys (24:13):
Yeah.
Yeah, it's interesting thatFlorida has been working on that
point.
I wouldn't have expectedFlorida to be working on
automation in that way, becausethey also have a pretty small
strawberry production system,right.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (24:28):
They do.
I mean, it's smaller thanCalifornia, but if you think
about you know the rest of thestates.
They would still be considereda large player relative to those
of us on South Atlantic,mid-atlantic part of the US.
Sam Humphreys (24:42):
Yeah off the top of your head.
Where would you?
What other states in additionto California are the main
strawberry producers?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (24:50):
I would say Florida, and then a lot of
processing of strawberry happensalso in Oregon, some in
Washington and then NorthCarolina, I would say is really
even a big player.
You know, as we talk aboutagri-tourism farms and New York,
(25:12):
I would say, has quite a bit ofstrawberry production as well.
Yeah, so your location isperfect then, Our location,
virginia, is perfect in thesense it's right in the middle
of the country.
So I think you know havingaccess to consumer base is
relatively easier here.
But we are all connected.
I would say you know NorthCarolina, virginia, new Jersey,
(25:37):
so we I think we kind of pick upthings from each other, even
Georgia.
Sam Humphreys (25:42):
That's wonderful.
Yeah, that's many states allconnected to each other.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (25:47):
Yeah, yeah, south Carolina as well, yeah.
Sam Humphreys (25:49):
Interesting.
So your goal is an extension,correct Extension and research.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (25:57):
That's correct.
Sam Humphreys (25:58):
So specifically for small fruits, extension and
research for small fruits.
So what does your worktypically look like?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (26:07):
Well, the exciting part is, every day is
different, so that's one goodthing about this job.
You know, there are days wherewe are out in the field all day
long, there are days where weare a few hours in the field,
few hours inside, and there arealso days where we are inside
all day long.
There are days where we travel,there are days where we are on
(26:29):
the flight, there are days wherewe are in the car, but a lot of
it really is pertaining tounderstanding the needs of the
growers and seeing how you canhelp, and it really starts from
grounds up talking to growersand understanding what they need
(26:50):
and then going back to youroffice to see what you can do in
your capacity to help them, andthen reach out maybe to other
specialists to see if we cancollaborate together to work on
addressing that need.
So it involves it's a longprocess, because you start by
(27:11):
thinking and then putting thingson paper, which and it involves
grant writing, so you have toraise the funds to do the
research.
Then, from there on, itinvolves actually implementing
the research and it doesn't getimplemented just like that.
You then hire the right peopleto do the job, including
(27:33):
graduate students, undergraduatestudents, maybe post-doctoral
fellows, and once you have theright team, then you hope that
the year goes well out in thefield or in the greenhouse.
The execution goes smoothly,and then you go into analysis,
writing, and the writing itselfgoes through several drafts, as
(27:55):
you know.
So, yeah, it's a long process,then publishing the work and
then simplifying the work to agrower acceptable language, and
then that involves working onnewsletter articles, maybe
writing blogs.
I don't do as much blogging,but I know some of my colleagues
(28:16):
do.
It involves maybe making somevideos, and we've all learned
that during COVID times.
So it's, I think, a lot ofvariation in the job.
That is, I think, exciting initself.
So when you disseminate theinformation, you have to go to
where the growers are, and thatoften involves travel and then
(28:41):
also presenting the work atscientific conferences.
So all of that, I think, isreally exciting to me.
Yeah.
Sam Humphreys (28:48):
I've got to say it sounds wonderful Just being
able to write and travel and seestrawberries and talk to
growers.
That sounds fantastic.
But all of those differentthings you do, it sounds really
challenging and I'm wonderinghow you prepared for that Before
you came into this role.
How did you prepare to be thisamazing strawberry extension
(29:13):
researcher?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (29:16):
I would say my mentors had a role to play,
as we don't just turn out readylike that, but going through the
graduate programs was veryhelpful.
And I would say everything thatI did in my graduate school was
very helpful, including I don'thave a teaching appointment now
(29:38):
.
I don't teach in classroom, butI was a teaching assistant when
I was in graduate school andthat was very helpful in terms
of how I should be speaking toan audience, how to pace out my
words as I'm talking so it canbe understood by a large set of
(29:58):
audiences and a large, diverseset of audiences.
I would say that was helpful.
Demonstration when youdemonstrate to the students, you
kind of have to do that also toyour stakeholders.
And extension and my PhD advisorhad an extension appointment as
well.
So that was very helpfulbecause I had the opportunity to
(30:20):
develop a webpage, write somenewsletter articles from my PhD
research and, I would say, thesmall fruit experience.
I really gained that during mypostdoctoral years at UC Davis.
My advisor there is anextension and research
specialist based off campus, sothat was, I think, a really good
(30:45):
preparation for me to take upthis position, which is also off
campus.
Sam Humphreys (30:50):
And I can see it all culminates in this beautiful
paper that you wrote about thewhole industry.
It's so in depth.
I'm really in awe of how youpulled all this information
together into one wonderful,concise paper.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (31:07):
Thank you.
I would say also thanks to mycollaborators who helped me with
writing.
We had the right team and allthe stars aligned to get that
written, so I'm really glad thatit's proving to be a good
publication for people who'venever been to the other parts of
the state or who are just aboutentering the world of
(31:28):
strawberry research or enteringfresh into the strawberry
industry.
Sam Humphreys (31:34):
Yeah, I mean I found it very helpful in my
master's career.
Maybe it's not a career yetI've been in my master's program
for a year and a half but whenI first started, my PI does a
lot of plant physiology and alot of technology work, but
(31:55):
doesn't have this super in depthbackground in strawberry and
the strawberry industry, and soby leaning on papers like this,
it's been so helpful to reallycontextualize the importance of
the work that me and mycolleagues are doing.
So thank you from the student'sperspective.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (32:17):
Oh, you're welcome yeah.
I'm glad you're finding it tobe useful.
Sam Humphreys (32:21):
So I am curious you mentioned how important your
collaborators were for thispaper and, as an extension
person who talks to so manypeople and connects across your
own state and across the countryto answer a lot of questions,
(32:42):
what has communication andbuilding a scientific community?
What has that looked like foryou?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (32:57):
I would say it has been a process that's
built over time.
It's taken time.
I say that because I did myundergraduate research in the
Midwest and it had nothing to dowith strawberries or any other
berry.
I really started working withberries and I stuck onto it.
(33:20):
When I did my postdoctoralresearch in California and one
of the advice I got from mymentor there was when you move.
Because when I moved and I gotthe position on the East Coast
he encouraged me to build someregional collaborators and that
(33:40):
took a little bit of timebecause I was trying to see who
the regional collaborators wereand some had retired, they were
gone.
So it was kind of this firstfew years a little challenging
and trying to really developthat relationship.
But I think over time it hasoccurred naturally and I'm glad
(34:03):
that has been the case, like anatural collaboration versus
forced collaboration, becauseforced collaborations oftentimes
don't last long.
But if something happensorganically over time I think
you kind of enjoy it a littlemore and it seems to bring in a
lot more purpose.
So I would say over time I'vecollaborated with the
(34:27):
researchers at NC State, at USDAfacilities in Belsville,
maryland.
I've then had some newresearchers who approached me
saying they are going to start aberry program or they were
hired into a berry specialist ora pathology position.
(34:47):
So I've then worked withresearchers at University of
Maryland and then deliveredState University, and I've
worked with researchers atVirginia State University and
now, with the outreach, reallythe umbrella is even wider.
So I worked with folks atArkansas, auburn, and as you
(35:09):
know, the small fruit world issmall, so we end up kind of
working with each other,depending on the opportunity and
the project.
Sam Humphreys (35:18):
Wow, that must be so informative too, because if
you asked me how Arkansas growsstrawberries differently, I
wouldn't have any idea.
But you have collaborators nowor you have people you've
connected with that could tellyou.
And that's really beautifulthat you have formed this
(35:40):
multi-state community.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (35:43):
Yeah, and I think almost all state
specialists are doing that.
I would say it's just, I think,the whole beauty of being
placed in this position thatgives you access to connecting
with people across states andyou can learn a lot and you can
share a lot and you can growtogether.
Sam Humphreys (36:06):
When you first began in Virginia, you found
that there was no association ofstrawberry growers.
Correct, that's right.
Why do you think there hadn'tbeen one before?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (36:21):
I would say Virginia has a fairly small set
of growers and they used to relyfor a big part with the
information that North CarolinaState University used to
generate, and that was the casefor many, many years.
But I think when the positionfor me was created, it was
(36:45):
really rooted for by thestrawberry growers, and when
they learned that they'refinally going to get a
strawberry specialist and theirown strawberry specialist, I
think they were really excitedand they thought it was a good
time to form an association,because now they had someone
associated with the universitywho could offer them some advice
(37:08):
.
And that's kind of how thathappened is.
You know, I was new to Virginia, but there were a few growers
here who told me that they wouldreally like to form an
association and I thought thatwould also work well for my
position.
So we got together and we haveGail Milt here working for
(37:28):
VDAC's marketing and she wasalways in touch with strawberry
growers and a couple of us thendecided that maybe we should get
together and legally form anassociation, and that's kind of
what we did.
But then when you form anassociation, you need to provide
some services to the members ofthe association.
(37:49):
So then we had to brainstormideas on how we could do that,
and one thing that we did was,you know, created a newsletter,
and Gail Milt here she stillcontinues to serve as an editor
for that newsletter and that, Ithink, is very advantageous and
appreciative to, you know, bythe growers of the association.
(38:13):
We also then used to do somepost-plant field walks, but that
has kind of slowed down afterCOVID and we've also lost our
long-term pathologist and untilthe new pathologist kind of
builds up to that level, I thinkit may be another few years to
(38:34):
kind of get that going if thegrowers really want that again.
The post-plant field walks andthen the pre-plant meetings is
something we have done as partof the initiative of the
Virginia Strawberry AssociationGrowers.
So it started off, I think,with a group of eight members
and the next day it became 13and slowly increased and I think
(38:59):
right now we are close to 40some members, but they're not
just from Virginia, they comefrom other states as well.
So we've seen that over timethat we are finding more and
more growers from other statesand to reflect our attendance we
are now in the process ofchanging the name to
Mid-Atlantic Strawberry GrowersAssociation.
Sam Humphreys (39:22):
That's amazing.
What is the current name?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (39:26):
Virginia Strawberry Growers Association.
Sam Humphreys (39:29):
So does this group, does this association
make it easier for you to figureout what grants to apply for
and what to research next?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (39:41):
I think, yes , I occasionally will take a
opportunity of the largermeetings to ask them what they
think are their needs so we cankind of gear our research
towards that area.
So I would say it's not thateasy, also because we are not
trained to do everything oraddress all needs, but we do our
(40:03):
best to see what is it that wecan do.
And, as I said before, then, ifsome of those things, you
really need to find rightcollaborators to address those
and then be able to write grantsto do the research.
Because you know, coming fromsmall states, we don't really
have a lot of industry backup interms of support, so we almost
(40:24):
have to rely on state andfederal level funding to do the
work.
Sam Humphreys (40:30):
That's interesting, yeah, so how do you
form these collaborationsacross states?
What does that look like foryou?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (40:40):
I think it's .
I'll give you an example, so,with one of the projects that we
were interested in doing wasvariety evaluations, and then we
were also interested then tosee if certain varieties have
higher levels of vitamin C.
(41:01):
So that involved maybe, youknow, reaching out to someone
who has like post harvestbackground or who's done some
work in that area.
So we reached out to mycolleague at Virginia State
University who was also startingand relatively new at that time
.
So we worked out a granttogether where we could work
(41:25):
together on that, where I woulddo the field data collection and
then she would do, you know,the nutrient determination
within those varieties.
And that's kind of how you.
That was in state.
But then, for an out of stateexample, you know we had some.
We had a breeder, dr Fernandez,at NC State, and she was
(41:49):
interested in evaluatingadvanced germplasm for the
varieties that she was about torelease.
And then, you know, I told herI would be interested in
evaluating those in Virginia.
I don't know if she reached outto me, I can't remember, it's
been a few years now, but yeah,so it worked out well because
you know it allowed me toevaluate that advanced germplasm
(42:11):
in Virginia and it allowed hermaybe to get some additional
data that she could use andunderstand the importance of
that variety.
So we worked collaboratively onprojects like that.
So I worked with Gina, as wellas with Dr Leeuwers Kim Leeuwers
at USDA, bellsville, maryland.
(42:33):
I think it's just been likeorganic and many years I think.
After I came into this positionin 2013 I think, and then 2016
or 2017 I got a call from youknow faculty in Blacksburg who
really wanted to start focusingon berries and she's, you know,
(42:56):
in the department of foodscience and technology and you
know she was.
She's interested in looking ataroma profiles of berries and
maybe trying to focus onnon-alcoholic beverages for the
berry industry.
So she's now pursuing that andwe are starting to write grants
(43:17):
together to make, you know, thewhole project and proposal look
more attractive.
Sam Humphreys (43:22):
That's fantastic.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (43:23):
Yeah.
Sam Humphreys (43:24):
I was just curious because if the huge,
large scale strawberry growersin California wanted to get
something done, it would maybebe easy to justify in like a
grant application or something,and so for these smaller scale
growers I was wondering if itwas, you know, difficult to find
(43:47):
collaboration.
But it sounds like, especiallywith this association you have,
it sounds like you've built areally strong group that has
that has sway and is excitingfor other researchers to try to
work on collaborations with you.
So that's really wonderful tohear.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (44:09):
Yes, yes, it's taken time, but it has
happened.
Sam Humphreys (44:14):
What are you excited about for the future?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (44:19):
That's a good question.
I think people are nowrecognizing the value of
agriculture more than ever andI'm really excited about this
new generation of kids who areexpressing interest that they
would like to work inagriculture or with agricultural
(44:40):
crops and adopting you know,either their technology skills
into agriculture or their foodtechnology and food science
skills into agriculture, orbringing in, you know, the
environmental perspective intoagriculture.
So I think the youth is what I'mmost excited about.
I'm excited about thetechnological adaptations that
(45:05):
might happen because of all theinterest and that would be of
value, I think, to the growersand also the prospect of you
know growing food differently.
So control environment is oneavenue there.
But you know also growingsoilless, growing food crops in
(45:29):
a soilless mix, you know, usingmaybe even aeroponics or
hydroponics and that.
So that's again, you know, Ithink, part of technology
adoption and that to me isexciting.
I'm glad that people areshowing interest now on how
their food is grown overall.
So there are questions thatthey ask the growers back about
(45:52):
you know how something is grownand I think that's fair to ask.
But also it's good for thegrowers to know you know what
their consumers want so they canadapt as well.
Sam Humphreys (46:04):
Yeah, well that's comforting to have read your
work and to see how much youknow and how many people you
know within the strawberrycommunity and to hear that there
are so many reasons to behopeful.
That's really wonderful.
Thank you so much for talkingwith me today.
(46:24):
I've really enjoyed this.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (46:25):
You're welcome.
Sam Humphreys (46:29):
Thank you.
What a fantastic episode towrap up season one of plants,
people, science.
To read more about thestrawberry industry, please
check out a related paper titledthe status and future of the
strawberry industry in theUnited States, which is
published by Hort Technology,which is one of the open source
(46:49):
peer-reviewed journals publishedby the American Society for
Horticultural Science.
Links to these articles will beprovided in the show notes.
If you want to learn more aboutDr Santani, you can see his bio
on the Virginia Tech website oryou can find him featured in
Fruit Grower's News 40 under 40of 2019.
And if you'd like moreinformation about the American
(47:10):
Society for HorticulturalScience in general, you can go
to ASHSorg.
Before we finish this episode,let's have a quick note from
Lara to wrap up season one.
Lara Brindisi (47:20):
Hello everyone.
As I mentioned in the lastepisode, I will be stepping down
as the co-host of this podcastin pursuit of a new and exciting
postdoc position.
Thanks again for being such agreat audience.
It was such a joy to help shapethe first season of plants
people, science.
Sam Humphreys (47:38):
We're so proud to see Lara moving forward in her
work.
Next season I'll continueco-hosting, this time alongside
someone who's been a member ofASHS for over 40 years, dr Kurt
Rahm, thank you for joining usthis season.
We hope to see you again forseason two.
Lara Brindisi (47:57):
Thanks.
Ashs podcasts are made possibleby member dues and volunteerism
.
Please go to ASHSorg to learnmore.
If you are not already a memberof ASHS, we invite you to join
us.
Ashs is a not-for-profit andyour donations are tax
deductible.
This episode was hosted by SamHumphrey and Lara Brindisi.
(48:20):
Special thanks to our audioengineer Alex Fraser, our
research team Lena Wilson andAndrew Cometz, our ASHS support
team Sarah Powell and SallyMurphy and our musician John
Clark.
Welcome to Plants People Science, a podcast by
the American Society forHorticultural Science where we
talk about all thingshorticulture.
In today's episode we discusssmall-scale strawberry farms and
how these smaller farms stayafloat along large-scale
year-round strawberry productionfrom California.
Joining us today we have DrJayesh Santani, who is an
(00:28):
associate professor and smallfruit extension specialist at
Virginia Tech.
As an extension specialist, hedoes a lot of work connecting
with growers and other extensionagents in Virginia and numerous
other states.
He also runs a research programwhich has covered a variety of
strawberry projects, includingcultivar evaluations, soil
disinfestation, strawberry plantnutrition and season extension
(00:51):
with high tunnels.
Dr Santani earned his master'sdegree and PhD in horticulture
from the University of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign.
He spent four years as apost-doctoral scholar exploring
the strawberry industry in theDepartment of Plant Sciences at
the University of California.
Dr Santani, welcome, Thank youfor joining us.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (01:16):
Thank you, it's my pleasure.
Sam Humphreys (01:18):
So we're here to talk to you today about
strawberries.
We've spoken previously to DrGerald Holmes from California
and, as you know, moststrawberries are grown in
California, but there's still alot of strawberry production in
other states.
You are in Virginia, right,that's correct?
So what does the smaller-scalestrawberry production look like?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (01:45):
That's a good question when we think
about the strawberry crop atleast, when we did the survey in
Virginia, we set up our surveyso we considered small-scale
strawberry growers to be withinanywhere between 0.1 to 3 acres
under fruit, and thenmedium-sized growers were
(02:09):
considered growers that weregrowing strawberry fruit between
3 and 5 acres, and growers whogrew strawberry fruit on greater
than 5 acres were consideredlarge-scale growers.
So I'm not sure if this is inwhat USDA has defined, but
that's kind of how we kind ofset up our survey.
(02:30):
There's a broader definition byUSDA which defines small-scale,
medium-scale farms as well aslarge-scale farms, but that's a
lot larger than what we considersmall, medium and large for
strawberry fruit growers.
Sam Humphreys (02:48):
Interesting.
Yeah, so, in addition to thesmaller size of these, what
would you call them?
Eastern farms, non-californiafarms?
What phrase would you use?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (03:02):
Yeah, I think using Eastern strawberry
growers is, I think, a fair wayof defining where we are.
Sam Humphreys (03:09):
Okay, so are there other ways that the
Eastern strawberry growers aredifferent from the Western
strawberry growers?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (03:18):
I think so, based on what I have seen
traveling on both sides of thecountry.
I feel like the acreage there'sa big difference in acreage, as
most people who work withstrawberries know.
The other difference that wesee is the kind of diseases that
you notice.
(03:39):
Some of them are same acrossboth coasts but we do have a lot
more humidity, which kind ofbreeds slightly different
spectrum of diseases.
And then weeds are universal,so a lot of weed pressure is
seen on both the East and Westcoast of the US.
(04:01):
So there's some slightdifferences, I would say, in
terms of disease pressure.
And one of the big differencesthat I've also seen is how
growers kind of try to selltheir produce Out.
Here on the East coast we aretargeting mostly local markets
(04:22):
and direct sales to consumers.
So pick your own.
Strawberry is really big on theEast coast.
I would say it is probablythere on the West coast as well,
but it gets hidden.
Maybe with all the largercompanies and the large scale
(04:43):
strawberry growers out there whoare more into wholesaling,
exporting, processing, they kindof stand out more.
But maybe if you are fromCalifornia or one of the other
states on the West coast, youmay notice that you do have some
farm stands sellingstrawberries out there as well
(05:05):
as pick your own operations, butit's really very prominent, I
would say, on the East coast andto me that was one of the
striking differences I noticed,having worked on both sides of
the coast in the US.
So pick your own operations, Ithink ties in very well with
(05:26):
agri-tourism.
As we know, strawberries on theEast coast are planted in the
fall and they would give youfruits during the summer months
and that is really attractivebecause it's one of the first
crop that breaks flower and thengives you fruit.
(05:46):
It really is the first crop andthat's exciting because people
are just ready to venture outand experience the spring
weather and agri-tourism reallybecomes attractive to people who
want to spend time outdoors.
And I think that's one of thelarger differences I saw between
(06:08):
the two coasts.
The other difference that Ifeel is that the land is more
intensely managed on the Westcoast and on the East coast
because we have thisagri-tourism aspect to
strawberry.
You know, growers tend tospread out the beds, the
(06:29):
distance between the beds, sothat way people who come to
their farm have more walkingspace and they can actually not
kind of trip over, you know, asthey are trying to pick the
fruit while trying to find thebalance.
You know, making sure theirbalance is steady and they don't
(06:51):
trip is what I'm getting at.
Sam Humphreys (06:53):
Yeah, wow, so there are lots of differences,
then, between the Eastern andWestern.
You mentioned humidity, youmentioned labor and how the
strawberries are picked.
I was looking at your paperfrom 2019 that is an overview of
, let's say, the status andfuture of the strawberry
(07:15):
industry in the United States,and you talk about this
production system called annualhill production.
Can you describe what thatlooks like?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (07:25):
Sure.
So annual hill productionbasically involves most
conventional growers wouldinject a fumigant during the
process of bed making.
So it's really the wholeprocess of bed making where you
would use those beds to grow thestrawberries and that involves
injecting a fumigant for themost part if you're a
(07:46):
conventional grower.
But there are also, you know, alot of variations in how that
bed is.
You know how that chemical isused, so some growers would
prefer not to use the chemicalor may look at some more
alternative ways to disenfestthe soil.
It also involves running thedrip tape while you're making
(08:08):
the bed and then covering thewhole bed with plastic mulch
which you know is really thereto kind of conserve moisture so
we don't lose the moisture onthe bed from evaporation.
And also it does a good jobwith controlling some weeds.
(08:29):
It provides, you know, someweed benefits to the crop and
one of the most strikingadvantage I would say is also
protection from winter.
So you get that addedprotection to the roots from the
winter temperatures which Ithink again, if you think about
(08:51):
the East Coast growers, most ofthem have to think about winter
protection as well as frostprotection for the strawberry
crop.
Yeah, fantastic.
Sam Humphreys (09:01):
I was really struck by the part in this paper
it was just you know part of asentence where you mentioned
that annual hill production,like you just described, is used
in the Eastern and Westernparts of America.
But I mean, we've talked abouthow different these environments
are.
How different do they look.
(09:22):
Just, if you were out in thefield looking at this annual
hill production system, whatwould it look like between
California and the Eastern side?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (09:34):
Yeah, I think even you know, if you
think about Californiaproduction, there might be
slight variations there, butmost of the production really
happens along the coast and thesoils are sandy and those sandy
soils really allow the beds tobe pulled higher and in a sense
(09:58):
you can also create wider beds.
So you get these nice whitebeds that are higher as well.
So that allows the strawberrygrowers in California to maybe
plant even three rows ofstrawberries or four rows of
strawberries in that bed.
And that again goes back to,you know, optimizing the usage
(10:21):
of land and, as you can imagine,land on the the coastal Ends of
actually both, I would say,east and west coast.
They would be more expensivethan trying to have access to
land a little more inland.
And Strawberry a lot ofstrawberry production really
happens on the coast out on theeast coast we do have sandy
(10:44):
soils, but they're more sandyloam and a Lot of growers also
inland would grow strawberrieshere.
So as the soils become moreheavy it becomes hard to make
really, you know, high beds andthe beds here that you see on
the east coast are Not quite ashigh as what you would see on
(11:05):
the west coast and they are notas wide as well, so that you
know.
Keeping that in mind and thenalso the humidity that we face,
I think growers usually preferto go with two rows of
strawberry per bed and thosemight vary by varieties as well.
(11:27):
And again, varieties is oneother thing that may vary across
the the two ends of the, thecoast year.
On the East coast, you know, weare still very fond of Chandler
and older variety that wasreleased by UC Davis, but over
time, as researchers have shownthe value of diversification of
(11:49):
varieties, more and more growersare diversifying their varietal
selection, especially in this.
You know the last decade, whereclimate change and global
warming are often discussed andthey seem to be a threat to food
and sick.
You know food security.
Sam Humphreys (12:10):
So you've touched on this a little bit.
The challenges that thesegrowers are facing On the
eastern side of things, what arethe?
What would you say are the mainchallenges these strawberry
growers have to deal with?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (12:24):
Yeah, that's again a good question, things
that I see.
You know, labor.
Labor is a big issue forgrowing strawberry.
It's it's a high value crop, Iwould say, but also very labor
intensive, and you know that'swhere the pick your own
operations Helpful because thegrowers don't really have to
(12:45):
worry about picking the fruitand that can be very labor
intensive.
We touched upon diseases withhumidity, and you know that's
another challenge, I would say,and I would say One big
challenge also would be accessto plant material, because in
the past few years, you know,we've seen some promise with,
(13:08):
with the new varieties, andwe've often talked about using
them, you know, at farm Forconsumption and pick your own.
But a lot of times, you know,having access to these varieties
is a challenge, having accessto clean plant material is a
challenge.
And then also, I would say,getting the plant material in a
(13:33):
timely manner has been achallenge, and in some years,
because I know that In Virginiawe think about maybe planting
strawberries in spring, but oneof the challenges we face is not
having access to plant materialDuring the spring, and fall
seems to be the only time wherewe can really have access to
(13:55):
Pluck plant material.
Cut off, cut off, yeah.
Sam Humphreys (13:58):
Yeah, on top of disease and on top of you
mentioned weather events, thereare so many challenges.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (14:08):
There are, and I would say, despite that,
you know growers are willing totake up that little bit of risk
because it is a fruitful fruitand you know it has its own
rewards beyond challenges aswell.
Sam Humphreys (14:24):
Yeah, I am really excited you brought up the
access to plant material,because that's what my master's
project is on.
Yeah, that's fantastic.
Yeah, I think that's a greatchallenge.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (14:33):
Yeah, that's fantastic.
Yeah, I think that's importantyeah.
Sam Humphreys (14:36):
And so like, even though there are all of these
challenges facing strawberryproducers, it's it's concerning
to see that there are so manychallenges, but from my
perspective, like being in thescientific community and seeing
how many teams are just workingfrom all angles to make it
better like you are it's justheartening to me.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (15:03):
Yeah, yeah, it's important work that they're
doing there and you especiallyyou, with your, with your
program Thank you.
Sam Humphreys (15:11):
So one thing you said caught my eye.
You mentioned you describedstrawberries as a high value
crop, which is right.
I just I don't typically thinkof them that way, because I the
growers that I've spoken to andthe things that I've heard from
the scientists I work with, themargin of income can be so small
(15:33):
after you know all of the carethat it took to grow these crops
and all the money you have toput into the land in order to
get a strawberry.
And so I'm wondering how, howdo Eastern, these like small
scale Eastern producers competewith the bigger market of the
California strawberries?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (15:56):
I think the advantage of being on the East
Coast is, you know, we arecloser to the most densely
populated part of the US, so wehave access to the consumer base
.
What we don't have access to onthe East Coast is year round
supply of strawberry production,and that might change over time
(16:19):
with, you know, controlenvironment agriculture picking
up, and I know there arechallenges.
Currently we're trying to growstrawberries under control
environment agriculture, but Ibelieve NC State is doing some
research along those lines aswell, and you know Virginia Tech
has some effort going there aswell, and maybe a few other
universities are also focusingon control environment
(16:42):
agriculture and the future maybe bright there with, you know,
end of production for strawberryand just thinking about how, if
strawberries could be grownyear round and, just you know,
we don't have to worry about thefruit traveling all the way
from the West Coast orinternationally from Mexico to
(17:05):
provide fruit during the offseason to make that fruit
available year round, I thinkthat's really exciting.
But currently, you know, whatthe growers have been taking
advantage of is pick your ownoperations and when they bring,
when they bring consumers totheir farm, they are, you know,
(17:29):
putting other attractive thingsat the farm like play area.
They have some chickens outthere, some pigs out there for
kids to be excited about farmanimals.
And beyond excitement, there'san educational component to it.
Wekids and families will learnabout agriculture and the
(17:50):
importance of agriculture interm, you know, to the human
society really to provide food,to protect environment, to
enhance environment.
So all those aspects I thinkare very educational and very
important.
So I would say East Coastgrowers have been quite
(18:10):
proactive in promoting thataspect as well.
They also have farm standswhere if people don't have time
to pick strawberries or they,you know, the weather is too hot
for them or too wet for them togo out in the field they could
potentially pick up fruit fromthe farm stand and that's
(18:32):
attractive as well.
I think it's really I reallyenjoy, you know, driving by
those roads where you can seefarm stands and you see fresh
fruit out there.
You see jars of jams andjellies out there for sale.
I think that's very exciting tome in the context of, you know,
local food systems.
Sam Humphreys (18:52):
That's also.
I haven't thought about it inthat way before.
That it's almost communitybuilding.
You know, if you go to a farmstand once a week and you see
the same people there, or you goto a farmers market and you
sort of pull that into yourinternal list of like local
communities, I've never thoughtof how these small farmers and
(19:15):
these like pick your own placescan play a role in community
like that.
That's wonderful.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (19:25):
Yeah, I think you know that is, I think,
the most exciting part also tome and like you, I wasn't really
paying that much attentionearly on, but over time you kind
of realize how important andvaluable it is to the community.
Because you think about, youknow, not having that strawberry
farm that you're used to goingyear after year and people start
(19:48):
missing that then if they don'tsee the farm that they were
used to going year after yearand just having access to that
fresh local fruit, that's a lotmore flavorful, lot more
colorful.
It's just a differentexperience that you know
shipping something across thecountry is not going to
(20:11):
substitute that access to freshfruits.
Sam Humphreys (20:14):
Yeah, do you think I mean I, this is
beautiful little group offarmers that have these small
farms and produce fruits for asmuch of the years they can, but,
like you said, it's not allyear round, right?
Do you think that'll everchange?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (20:33):
It could.
You know, with weather changeswe are already seeing this year
we are picking longer thannormal.
We've been picking for aboutnine or ten weeks and that's not
very usual, I would say itdoesn't happen every year.
So we don't know what weatherpatterns are going to look like
in the future.
(20:54):
We don't know what the geneticsmight allow us to do and we
don't know what technologiesmight come into play that might
alter how we grow this fruit.
So I would say, you know, thehuman, with the human mind and
the human mindset, I would saynothing is impossible, but we
(21:17):
just don't know.
It looks like an excitingavenue to pursue, where fruit
could be available all summerlong.
The logistics will have to comeinto play, including, you know,
we touched upon access to plantmaterial, and that could be
again a defining factor as well.
Sam Humphreys (21:37):
Absolutely.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (21:38):
In terms of making fruit available year
round.
Sam Humphreys (21:40):
Absolutely yeah, it's so challenging and exciting
.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (21:46):
Yeah, it makes things exciting for
researchers and extensionspecialists.
Sam Humphreys (21:52):
Absolutely, and so on that exciting note, one
thing that I find interesting,and a lot of my peers do as well
, is the idea of automation androbotics I work with I'm friends
with people in my departmentwho are maybe working with crops
where there's more automation.
(22:13):
I don't see that muchautomation and robotics in
strawberry production right now,and I'm curious what you think
about robotics, because youmentioned it in your 2019 review
paper.
Do you think you could talkabout what sorts of technologies
you think would help strawberrygrowers?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (22:34):
I think they're.
You know, like you touched uponrobotics and most of what I've
seen is for the large scalestrawberry growers in California
, Florida and, as we discussed,the bed set up is a little
different there.
Maybe the genetic makeup ofvarieties would be different and
(22:59):
that plays a role on how easilyrobots can detect fruits on the
plant.
You know where we are.
We are surrounded with smallscale growers around us on the
east coast and I really thinkthat there's potential to
develop technology for smallscale growers, where maybe you
(23:24):
don't need six robotic armsworking at the same time, as we
saw through demonstrations atthe conferences in Florida and
California, but we need maybeonly one or two robotic arms
that would do the same thing,which would also reduce the cost
of owning that machine, becauseyou start talking about, you
(23:49):
know, $10,000, $15,000 equipment, that that's quite expensive
for our growers here on the eastcoast and I think having access
to cheap technology andsomething that will work well is
what would attract adoption ofthat technology.
(24:10):
I would say to do two growerson the east coast.
Sam Humphreys (24:13):
Yeah.
Yeah, it's interesting thatFlorida has been working on that
point.
I wouldn't have expectedFlorida to be working on
automation in that way, becausethey also have a pretty small
strawberry production system,right.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (24:28):
They do.
I mean, it's smaller thanCalifornia, but if you think
about you know the rest of thestates.
They would still be considereda large player relative to those
of us on South Atlantic,mid-atlantic part of the US.
Sam Humphreys (24:42):
Yeah off the top of your head.
Where would you?
What other states in additionto California are the main
strawberry producers?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (24:50):
I would say Florida, and then a lot of
processing of strawberry happensalso in Oregon, some in
Washington and then NorthCarolina, I would say is really
even a big player.
You know, as we talk aboutagri-tourism farms and New York,
(25:12):
I would say, has quite a bit ofstrawberry production as well.
Yeah, so your location isperfect then, Our location,
virginia, is perfect in thesense it's right in the middle
of the country.
So I think you know havingaccess to consumer base is
relatively easier here.
But we are all connected.
I would say you know NorthCarolina, virginia, new Jersey,
(25:37):
so we I think we kind of pick upthings from each other, even
Georgia.
Sam Humphreys (25:42):
That's wonderful.
Yeah, that's many states allconnected to each other.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (25:47):
Yeah, yeah, south Carolina as well, yeah.
Sam Humphreys (25:49):
Interesting.
So your goal is an extension,correct Extension and research.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (25:57):
That's correct.
Sam Humphreys (25:58):
So specifically for small fruits, extension and
research for small fruits.
So what does your worktypically look like?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (26:07):
Well, the exciting part is, every day is
different, so that's one goodthing about this job.
You know, there are days wherewe are out in the field all day
long, there are days where weare a few hours in the field,
few hours inside, and there arealso days where we are inside
all day long.
There are days where we travel,there are days where we are on
(26:29):
the flight, there are days wherewe are in the car, but a lot of
it really is pertaining tounderstanding the needs of the
growers and seeing how you canhelp, and it really starts from
grounds up talking to growersand understanding what they need
(26:50):
and then going back to youroffice to see what you can do in
your capacity to help them, andthen reach out maybe to other
specialists to see if we cancollaborate together to work on
addressing that need.
So it involves it's a longprocess, because you start by
(27:11):
thinking and then putting thingson paper, which and it involves
grant writing, so you have toraise the funds to do the
research.
Then, from there on, itinvolves actually implementing
the research and it doesn't getimplemented just like that.
You then hire the right peopleto do the job, including
(27:33):
graduate students, undergraduatestudents, maybe post-doctoral
fellows, and once you have theright team, then you hope that
the year goes well out in thefield or in the greenhouse.
The execution goes smoothly,and then you go into analysis,
writing, and the writing itselfgoes through several drafts, as
(27:55):
you know.
So, yeah, it's a long process,then publishing the work and
then simplifying the work to agrower acceptable language, and
then that involves working onnewsletter articles, maybe
writing blogs.
I don't do as much blogging,but I know some of my colleagues
(28:16):
do.
It involves maybe making somevideos, and we've all learned
that during COVID times.
So it's, I think, a lot ofvariation in the job.
That is, I think, exciting initself.
So when you disseminate theinformation, you have to go to
where the growers are, and thatoften involves travel and then
(28:41):
also presenting the work atscientific conferences.
So all of that, I think, isreally exciting to me.
Yeah.
Sam Humphreys (28:48):
I've got to say it sounds wonderful Just being
able to write and travel and seestrawberries and talk to
growers.
That sounds fantastic.
But all of those differentthings you do, it sounds really
challenging and I'm wonderinghow you prepared for that Before
you came into this role.
How did you prepare to be thisamazing strawberry extension
(29:13):
researcher?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (29:16):
I would say my mentors had a role to play,
as we don't just turn out readylike that, but going through the
graduate programs was veryhelpful.
And I would say everything thatI did in my graduate school was
very helpful, including I don'thave a teaching appointment now
(29:38):
.
I don't teach in classroom, butI was a teaching assistant when
I was in graduate school andthat was very helpful in terms
of how I should be speaking toan audience, how to pace out my
words as I'm talking so it canbe understood by a large set of
(29:58):
audiences and a large, diverseset of audiences.
I would say that was helpful.
Demonstration when youdemonstrate to the students, you
kind of have to do that also toyour stakeholders.
And extension and my PhD advisorhad an extension appointment as
well.
So that was very helpfulbecause I had the opportunity to
(30:20):
develop a webpage, write somenewsletter articles from my PhD
research and, I would say, thesmall fruit experience.
I really gained that during mypostdoctoral years at UC Davis.
My advisor there is anextension and research
specialist based off campus, sothat was, I think, a really good
(30:45):
preparation for me to take upthis position, which is also off
campus.
Sam Humphreys (30:50):
And I can see it all culminates in this beautiful
paper that you wrote about thewhole industry.
It's so in depth.
I'm really in awe of how youpulled all this information
together into one wonderful,concise paper.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (31:07):
Thank you.
I would say also thanks to mycollaborators who helped me with
writing.
We had the right team and allthe stars aligned to get that
written, so I'm really glad thatit's proving to be a good
publication for people who'venever been to the other parts of
the state or who are just aboutentering the world of
(31:28):
strawberry research or enteringfresh into the strawberry
industry.
Sam Humphreys (31:34):
Yeah, I mean I found it very helpful in my
master's career.
Maybe it's not a career yetI've been in my master's program
for a year and a half but whenI first started, my PI does a
lot of plant physiology and alot of technology work, but
(31:55):
doesn't have this super in depthbackground in strawberry and
the strawberry industry, and soby leaning on papers like this,
it's been so helpful to reallycontextualize the importance of
the work that me and mycolleagues are doing.
So thank you from the student'sperspective.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (32:17):
Oh, you're welcome yeah.
I'm glad you're finding it tobe useful.
Sam Humphreys (32:21):
So I am curious you mentioned how important your
collaborators were for thispaper and, as an extension
person who talks to so manypeople and connects across your
own state and across the countryto answer a lot of questions,
(32:42):
what has communication andbuilding a scientific community?
What has that looked like foryou?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (32:57):
I would say it has been a process that's
built over time.
It's taken time.
I say that because I did myundergraduate research in the
Midwest and it had nothing to dowith strawberries or any other
berry.
I really started working withberries and I stuck onto it.
(33:20):
When I did my postdoctoralresearch in California and one
of the advice I got from mymentor there was when you move.
Because when I moved and I gotthe position on the East Coast
he encouraged me to build someregional collaborators and that
(33:40):
took a little bit of timebecause I was trying to see who
the regional collaborators wereand some had retired, they were
gone.
So it was kind of this firstfew years a little challenging
and trying to really developthat relationship.
But I think over time it hasoccurred naturally and I'm glad
(34:03):
that has been the case, like anatural collaboration versus
forced collaboration, becauseforced collaborations oftentimes
don't last long.
But if something happensorganically over time I think
you kind of enjoy it a littlemore and it seems to bring in a
lot more purpose.
So I would say over time I'vecollaborated with the
(34:27):
researchers at NC State, at USDAfacilities in Belsville,
maryland.
I've then had some newresearchers who approached me
saying they are going to start aberry program or they were
hired into a berry specialist ora pathology position.
(34:47):
So I've then worked withresearchers at University of
Maryland and then deliveredState University, and I've
worked with researchers atVirginia State University and
now, with the outreach, reallythe umbrella is even wider.
So I worked with folks atArkansas, auburn, and as you
(35:09):
know, the small fruit world issmall, so we end up kind of
working with each other,depending on the opportunity and
the project.
Sam Humphreys (35:18):
Wow, that must be so informative too, because if
you asked me how Arkansas growsstrawberries differently, I
wouldn't have any idea.
But you have collaborators nowor you have people you've
connected with that could tellyou.
And that's really beautifulthat you have formed this
(35:40):
multi-state community.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (35:43):
Yeah, and I think almost all state
specialists are doing that.
I would say it's just, I think,the whole beauty of being
placed in this position thatgives you access to connecting
with people across states andyou can learn a lot and you can
share a lot and you can growtogether.
Sam Humphreys (36:06):
When you first began in Virginia, you found
that there was no association ofstrawberry growers.
Correct, that's right.
Why do you think there hadn'tbeen one before?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (36:21):
I would say Virginia has a fairly small set
of growers and they used to relyfor a big part with the
information that North CarolinaState University used to
generate, and that was the casefor many, many years.
But I think when the positionfor me was created, it was
(36:45):
really rooted for by thestrawberry growers, and when
they learned that they'refinally going to get a
strawberry specialist and theirown strawberry specialist, I
think they were really excitedand they thought it was a good
time to form an association,because now they had someone
associated with the universitywho could offer them some advice
(37:08):
.
And that's kind of how thathappened is.
You know, I was new to Virginia, but there were a few growers
here who told me that they wouldreally like to form an
association and I thought thatwould also work well for my
position.
So we got together and we haveGail Milt here working for
(37:28):
VDAC's marketing and she wasalways in touch with strawberry
growers and a couple of us thendecided that maybe we should get
together and legally form anassociation, and that's kind of
what we did.
But then when you form anassociation, you need to provide
some services to the members ofthe association.
(37:49):
So then we had to brainstormideas on how we could do that,
and one thing that we did was,you know, created a newsletter,
and Gail Milt here she stillcontinues to serve as an editor
for that newsletter and that, Ithink, is very advantageous and
appreciative to, you know, bythe growers of the association.
(38:13):
We also then used to do somepost-plant field walks, but that
has kind of slowed down afterCOVID and we've also lost our
long-term pathologist and untilthe new pathologist kind of
builds up to that level, I thinkit may be another few years to
(38:34):
kind of get that going if thegrowers really want that again.
The post-plant field walks andthen the pre-plant meetings is
something we have done as partof the initiative of the
Virginia Strawberry AssociationGrowers.
So it started off, I think,with a group of eight members
and the next day it became 13and slowly increased and I think
(38:59):
right now we are close to 40some members, but they're not
just from Virginia, they comefrom other states as well.
So we've seen that over timethat we are finding more and
more growers from other statesand to reflect our attendance we
are now in the process ofchanging the name to
Mid-Atlantic Strawberry GrowersAssociation.
Sam Humphreys (39:22):
That's amazing.
What is the current name?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (39:26):
Virginia Strawberry Growers Association.
Sam Humphreys (39:29):
So does this group, does this association
make it easier for you to figureout what grants to apply for
and what to research next?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (39:41):
I think, yes , I occasionally will take a
opportunity of the largermeetings to ask them what they
think are their needs so we cankind of gear our research
towards that area.
So I would say it's not thateasy, also because we are not
trained to do everything oraddress all needs, but we do our
(40:03):
best to see what is it that wecan do.
And, as I said before, then, ifsome of those things, you
really need to find rightcollaborators to address those
and then be able to write grantsto do the research.
Because you know, coming fromsmall states, we don't really
have a lot of industry backup interms of support, so we almost
(40:24):
have to rely on state andfederal level funding to do the
work.
Sam Humphreys (40:30):
That's interesting, yeah, so how do you
form these collaborationsacross states?
What does that look like foryou?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (40:40):
I think it's .
I'll give you an example, so,with one of the projects that we
were interested in doing wasvariety evaluations, and then we
were also interested then tosee if certain varieties have
higher levels of vitamin C.
(41:01):
So that involved maybe, youknow, reaching out to someone
who has like post harvestbackground or who's done some
work in that area.
So we reached out to mycolleague at Virginia State
University who was also startingand relatively new at that time
.
So we worked out a granttogether where we could work
(41:25):
together on that, where I woulddo the field data collection and
then she would do, you know,the nutrient determination
within those varieties.
And that's kind of how you.
That was in state.
But then, for an out of stateexample, you know we had some.
We had a breeder, dr Fernandez,at NC State, and she was
(41:49):
interested in evaluatingadvanced germplasm for the
varieties that she was about torelease.
And then, you know, I told herI would be interested in
evaluating those in Virginia.
I don't know if she reached outto me, I can't remember, it's
been a few years now, but yeah,so it worked out well because
you know it allowed me toevaluate that advanced germplasm
(42:11):
in Virginia and it allowed hermaybe to get some additional
data that she could use andunderstand the importance of
that variety.
So we worked collaboratively onprojects like that.
So I worked with Gina, as wellas with Dr Leeuwers Kim Leeuwers
at USDA, bellsville, maryland.
(42:33):
I think it's just been likeorganic and many years I think.
After I came into this positionin 2013 I think, and then 2016
or 2017 I got a call from youknow faculty in Blacksburg who
really wanted to start focusingon berries and she's, you know,
(42:56):
in the department of foodscience and technology and you
know she was.
She's interested in looking ataroma profiles of berries and
maybe trying to focus onnon-alcoholic beverages for the
berry industry.
So she's now pursuing that andwe are starting to write grants
(43:17):
together to make, you know, thewhole project and proposal look
more attractive.
Sam Humphreys (43:22):
That's fantastic.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (43:23):
Yeah.
Sam Humphreys (43:24):
I was just curious because if the huge,
large scale strawberry growersin California wanted to get
something done, it would maybebe easy to justify in like a
grant application or something,and so for these smaller scale
growers I was wondering if itwas, you know, difficult to find
(43:47):
collaboration.
But it sounds like, especiallywith this association you have,
it sounds like you've built areally strong group that has
that has sway and is excitingfor other researchers to try to
work on collaborations with you.
So that's really wonderful tohear.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (44:09):
Yes, yes, it's taken time, but it has
happened.
Sam Humphreys (44:14):
What are you excited about for the future?
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (44:19):
That's a good question.
I think people are nowrecognizing the value of
agriculture more than ever andI'm really excited about this
new generation of kids who areexpressing interest that they
would like to work inagriculture or with agricultural
(44:40):
crops and adopting you know,either their technology skills
into agriculture or their foodtechnology and food science
skills into agriculture, orbringing in, you know, the
environmental perspective intoagriculture.
So I think the youth is what I'mmost excited about.
I'm excited about thetechnological adaptations that
(45:05):
might happen because of all theinterest and that would be of
value, I think, to the growersand also the prospect of you
know growing food differently.
So control environment is oneavenue there.
But you know also growingsoilless, growing food crops in
(45:29):
a soilless mix, you know, usingmaybe even aeroponics or
hydroponics and that.
So that's again, you know, Ithink, part of technology
adoption and that to me isexciting.
I'm glad that people areshowing interest now on how
their food is grown overall.
So there are questions thatthey ask the growers back about
(45:52):
you know how something is grownand I think that's fair to ask.
But also it's good for thegrowers to know you know what
their consumers want so they canadapt as well.
Sam Humphreys (46:04):
Yeah, well that's comforting to have read your
work and to see how much youknow and how many people you
know within the strawberrycommunity and to hear that there
are so many reasons to behopeful.
That's really wonderful.
Thank you so much for talkingwith me today.
(46:24):
I've really enjoyed this.
Dr. Jayesh Samtani (46:25):
You're welcome.
Sam Humphreys (46:29):
Thank you.
What a fantastic episode towrap up season one of plants,
people, science.
To read more about thestrawberry industry, please
check out a related paper titledthe status and future of the
strawberry industry in theUnited States, which is
published by Hort Technology,which is one of the open source
(46:49):
peer-reviewed journals publishedby the American Society for
Horticultural Science.
Links to these articles will beprovided in the show notes.
If you want to learn more aboutDr Santani, you can see his bio
on the Virginia Tech website oryou can find him featured in
Fruit Grower's News 40 under 40of 2019.
And if you'd like moreinformation about the American
(47:10):
Society for HorticulturalScience in general, you can go
to ASHSorg.
Before we finish this episode,let's have a quick note from
Lara to wrap up season one.
Lara Brindisi (47:20):
Hello everyone.
As I mentioned in the lastepisode, I will be stepping down
as the co-host of this podcastin pursuit of a new and exciting
postdoc position.
Thanks again for being such agreat audience.
It was such a joy to help shapethe first season of plants
people, science.
Sam Humphreys (47:38):
We're so proud to see Lara moving forward in her
work.
Next season I'll continueco-hosting, this time alongside
someone who's been a member ofASHS for over 40 years, dr Kurt
Rahm, thank you for joining usthis season.
We hope to see you again forseason two.
Lara Brindisi (47:57):
Thanks.
Ashs podcasts are made possibleby member dues and volunteerism
.
Please go to ASHSorg to learnmore.
If you are not already a memberof ASHS, we invite you to join
us.
Ashs is a not-for-profit andyour donations are tax
deductible.
This episode was hosted by SamHumphrey and Lara Brindisi.
(48:20):
Special thanks to our audioengineer Alex Fraser, our
research team Lena Wilson andAndrew Cometz, our ASHS support
team Sarah Powell and SallyMurphy and our musician John
Clark.
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