Dr. Girish K. S. Panicker, associate professor of agriculture, and director of the Center for Conservation Research delivering his speech at the American Society for Horticultural Science Conference, held recently in New Orleans.

The largest horticultural society in North America, the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), has begun globally podcasting the speech of Dr. Girish K.S. Panicker, associate professor of agriculture and director, Center for Conservation Research, Alcorn State University School of Agriculture, Research, Extension and Applied Sciences, entitled, “Comparison of Fruit Qualities of Melons (Cucumis melo L.) from Around the Globe Grown on a Heavy Soil Using Organic Agricultural Practices.”

This speech was delivered by Panicker the ASHS’ international horticultural conference held recently in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This research project, that studies 103 varieties of melons, was funded by the $498,561 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture. The project entitled, “Mining the Melon Gene Pool to Breed Novel Morphotypes for Dissemination into Small Farms through a Participatory Selection Approach,” and is in its third year of research.

Panicker’s speech covered the selection of the 10 best varieties after thorough quality analysis, and the advanced organic farming systems applied for their production based on national organic regulations. In three years, the Conservation Center will be distributing seeds of the best selected varieties free of cost to all 1862, 1890, and 1994 land-grant universities, as well as to over 100 non-land grant institutions offering agricultural science.

To access the podcast, please follow the link:

https://ashs.confex.com/ashs/2015/webprogram/Paper22433.html

For additional information on this and other speeches of Dr. Girish K.S. Panicker that are being podcasted by the USDA, American Society of Agronomy, ASHS, and the International Society for Horticultural Science, Belgium, please contact him at [email protected] or (601) 877-6598 or -3372.