Research Plan

The Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium is dedicated to the rapid creation of new and improved cultivars for substantial expansion of the hazelnut industry for food, feed, and biofuel production. Areas of cultivar expansion include Oregon, Washington, the Midwest, and eastern regions of the United States.

The new cultivars will be disease-resistant, climatically adaptable, and commercially reliable for low-input food, feed, and biofuel production. Through collaboration, it is possible to effectively and efficiently use expanded genetic resources, breeding advances, genetic tools, and techniques. The Consortium takes advantage of prior investments and existing facilities to expedite the development of improved hazelnuts.

Currently Funded Research

Research and breeding methods are based on thoroughly tested techniques developed at Oregon State University, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Rutgers University, University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry, and Arbor Day Farm. The five Consortium partners represent more than 70 cumulative years of hazelnut research and breeding. Here are a few of the grants the Consortium members have been engaged in:

• M. Hanna, Y Xu, and S. Josiah: USDA – Nebraska Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant. Hybrid hazelnut: an alternative oilseed crop in Nebraska.
• S. Mehlenbacher: USDA ARS – Spec. Coop. Agrmt. Resistance to Eastern Filbert Blight.
• T. Molnar: Northeast Sun Grant Initiative Competitive Grants Program. Developing the potential of hazelnuts as a feedstock for biodiesel and other oleochemicals in the northeast. Principal Investigator: Thomas Molnar.
• T. Molnar: Northern Nut Growers Association 2007 Research Grant. Eastern Filbert Blight resistant hazelnut selections from Russia and Crimea: investigating inheritance of resistance.
• T. Molnar: Center for Turfgrass Science (NJAES, Cook College, Rutgers Univ.) – $140,000 Download Past Research White Papers and PowerPoint Presentations (Jan. 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008). Genetic improvement of turfgrasses and other underutilized perennial plants for soil improvement, environmental enhancement, improved nutrition, and bioenergy. Principal Investigators: C. Reed Funk and Thomas Molnar.

See Past and Ongoing Research (2004 to Present)