USA: Vanilla is a profitable crop at $250 to $600 per kilo

Vanilla

United States

Published Aug 29, 2023

Tridge summary

Researchers at the University of Florida are developing a domestic vanilla crop with the help of grants from the USDA. The goal is to identify vanilla varieties with high yields, disease resistance, and high nutrient content, as well as developing the best cultivation practices. The researchers believe that the United States could become the fifth largest vanilla producer in the world, and that growing vanilla can have many benefits including supporting rural communities and promoting agroforestry.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Vanilla is the second most valuable spice, after saffron, and the world's most popular flavor among consumers. Now the researchers at the University of Florida at Homestead are on the verge of developing a domestic vanilla crop. And that could be a big change for interested small-scale growers and investors in Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Nearly $400,000 in grants from the United States Department of Agriculture's Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (USDA-SSARE), scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) are now stepping up the pace in the most critical phase of a vanilla breeding program set up in 2017. This research phase is critical as it will identify varieties with high yields, disease resistance and high vanillin and nutrient content, as well as developing the best fertilizer recommendations. The scientists will also identify potential plant pollinators as they work with ...

Source: AGF