They’re Growing Vanilla In Florida

They’re Growing Vanilla In Florida CROPS New Crops The Tropical Research and Education Center of Homestead Fla is working to bring a new cash crop to the state—vanilla “Vanilla is a valuable tropical crop with global appeal and near insatiable demand but it’s mainly produced overseas ” says Assistant Professor Xingbo Wu “Severe weather events and geopolitical challenges negatively impact the global production and supply of vanilla Florida has a suitable environment for vanilla production so we’re researching whether vanilla can be the next crop for Florida’s agriculture industry ” Commercial vanilla is a species of orchid that grows in humid rainforests throughout Central and South America Mexico Tahiti and Madagascar A few species are native to Florida each of which is endangered The crop has never been grown commercially in the state “Challenges with vanilla production include lack of knowledge in horticulture management practices labor-intensive production process and disease resistant varieties with unique flavor profiles ” says Wu Still there’s a lot of motivation to make vanilla a success in the U S It’s one of the world’s most popular flavors and vanilla extract can bring in up to $1 200 per pound making it one of the most profitable crops per acre The U S is also the world’s largest importer of vanilla beans so a local supply would find a ready market Wu is working with a $383 000 Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education SSARE grant to explore the potential of establishing vanilla in southern Florida Puerto Rico and the U S Virgin Islands “We have preliminary data to support Florida growers to trial vanilla production with horticulture management recommendations and genetic materials ” he says “Meanwhile the vanilla breeding program is working on solutions to address other challenges with the hope to expand the industry in the future ” One focus is fertilizer Researchers are applying various conventional and organic fertilizer rates to container plants and measuring resulting growth rates Research is also underway to determine how best to pollinate vanilla flowers as it’s not fully understood yet what natural pollinators are fertilizing Florida’s wild vanilla crops This research involved setting cameras in trees with native vanilla to take time-series photos to capture the pollination events with computer algorithms Processing these photos is an ongoing project So far approximately five farm trials around Homestead Fla are experimenting with vanilla with more likely to join the program in the future “Our overall goal of this project is to establish a domesticated vanilla industry in Florida ” says Wu “There’s a lot more research necessary to get to that point ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Professor Xingbo Wu University of Florida Tropical Research and Education Center xingbo wu@ufl edu

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