The University of New Hampshire’s cucurbit breeding program is the longest continuously running plant breeding program of its kind in North America. The program has established an impressive portfolio with over 100 varieties of squash, pumpkins, gourds, and melons developed, which contribute to local agriculture and have reached global seed catalogs.
Plant breeder and UNH assistant professor Chris Hernandez leads the program, and he and his team are developing new cucurbits varieties with improved characteristics like increased market yield, disease resistance, and nutritional quality using DNA sequencing. Founded in the 1940s, the UNH cucurbit breeding program was pioneered by notable plant breeders like A.F. Yeager, Elwyn Meader, and later, Brent Loy. Breeding and research work for the UNH cucurbits breeding program is conducted at the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses and at the Kingman Research Farm.
You can read about the program in the fall 2023 issue of the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture’s flagship publication, THRIVE:
colsa.unh.edu/about/colsas-fl...