MINUTES of the MEETING OF THE S-9 TECHNICAL COMMITTEE "NEW PLANTS" The Introduction, Multiplication, and Evaluation of New Plants for Agricultural and Industrial Uses and the Preservation of Valuable Germplasm University of Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky July 23-24, 1973 Agenda for Meeting of the S-9 Regional Technical Committee University of Kentucky Room A-6, Agricultural Science Center North ;July 23 - 24, 1973 1. Call to order and introduction of members and visitors 2. Welcome to University of Kentucky 3. Review and approval of Minutes of 1972 S-9 Meeting 4. Additions to or deletions from Agenda 5. Appointment of committees: (a) Nominations (b) Date and location of next meeting (c) Resolutions 6. Progress Reports: Regional Plant Introduction Station Alabama Louisiana South Carolina Arkansas Mississippi Tennessee Florida North Carolina Texas Georgia Oklahoma Virginia Kentucky'`''' Puerto Rico U. S. Plant Introduction Station, Savannah, Ga. Soil Conservation Service Northern Research Laboratory Germplasm Resources, Laboratory Cooperative State Research Service 7. ARS personnel associated with Plant Introduction 8. S-9 representation at National Coordinating Committee Meeting 9. Regional Station Budget 10. Inventory of plant: germplasm collections in Southern Region 11. Requests for plant explorations 12. Regional publication on ornamental plant introductions 13. Regional publication on "''new crops 14. Consideration of Inter-Regional Project I 15. Administrative Advisor 16. Plan of work for 1974 17. Committee Reports 18. Field Trip 19. Adjournment 2 1. Call to Order and Introduction The meeting of the S-9 "New Plants" Technical Committee was called to order by W. T. Fike at 8:30 a.m., 23 July 1973 in Room A-6 of the Agricultural Science Center at the University of Kentucky Campus. Minutes were taken by M. J. Constantin, Secretary. Each attendee introduced himself. Those in attendance were: S-9 Committee Members Present C. R. Jackson AdminstrativeAdvisor W. R. Langford Regional Coordinator, Georgia J. L. Bowers Arkansas G. B. Killinger Florida R. E. Sigafus Kentucky R. J. Stadtherr Louisiana H. W. Bennett Mississippi W. T. Fike North Carolina Charles Galeotti Oklahoma J. Velez-Fortuno Puerto Rico J. A. Martin South Carolina M. J. Constantin Tennessee E. L. Whiteley Texas Quentin Jones National Program Staff, USDA F. R. Earle Northern Regional Laboratory, USDA Others in Attendance H. L. Hyland Germplasm Resources Laboratory, USDA G. A. White Germplasm Resources Laboratory, USDA W. O. Hawley U. S. Plant Introduction Station, Savannah, Ga. Charles Adamson U. S. Plant Introduction Station, Savannah, Ga. Grover Sowell, Jr. Regional Plant Introduction Station, USDA Robert Kleiman Northern Regional Laboratory, USDA R. G. Creech Agronomy Dept., Mississippi State Univ. C. O. Little Assoc. Dean for Research, University of Kentucky D. C. Milbocker Horticulture Dept., University of Kentucky N. L. Taylor Agronomy Dept., University of Kentucky E. N. Fergus Retired, University of Kentucky L. Davidson Canberra, Australia J. A. Floyd, Jr. Dept., of Horticulture, Clemson University 2. Welcome C. O. Little, Associate Dean for Research, University of Kentucky, welcomed the group to the University of Kentucky Campus. 3 3. Approval of Minutes for 1972 S-9 Meeting Additions and corrections of the 1972 Minutes of the Auburn, Alabama meeting were called for. J. L. Bowers moved that the Minutes be approved and the motion was, seconded by C. R. Jackson. Approval was unanimous. 4. Consideration of Agenda The Agenda as shown on page 1 was adopted. 5. Appointment of Committees W. T. Pike, Chairman, appointed the following committees: Nominating Committee Resolutions Committee H. W. Bennett George White J. A. Martin G. B. Killinger. H. L. Hyland Time and Place of Next Meeting R. E. Sigafus R. J. Stadtherr 6. Progress Reports Reports of progress in the evaluation of new crops and plants were pre- sented by S-9 Committee Members by states in alphabetical order, and by representatives of other research organizations. Additional reports from the University of Kentucky were presented by D. C. Milbocker on ornamental plants and blueberries, and by N. L. Taylor on the collection of Trifolium 'species. Representatives from Alabama, Virginia, and the Soil Conservation Service were absent, but reports from Alabama and SCS were submitted for inclusion in these Minutes. Copies of all reports' presented are included. 7. ARS Personnel Associated with Plant Introduction Reorganization of ARS in 1972 placed personnel in new positions and severed many lines of communications that existed in the national program of plant introduction. H. L. Hyland discussed the new organization of ARS at the .1972 S-9 meeting but some positions had not been filled at that time. W. R. Langford distributed a list of ARS employees in the Southern Region. Area Directors, Location Leaders, and Research Leaders were included on the list. The Germplasm Resources Laboratory of the Plant Genetics and Germplasm Institute, ARS, Beltsville, Md. under the leadership of Dr. George White now conducts plant introduction activities that formerly were done by the New Crops Research Branch. Quentin Jones presented a report on personnel constituting the ARS Plant Germplasm Coordinating Committee. Included in the report are the names of individuals, their affiliation and address. 4 8. S-9 Representation at National Coordinating Committee Meeting' C. R. Jackson announced that the National Coordinating Committee will meet at the National Arboretum in October 1973. S-9 representatives to that Meeting will receive more 'detailed information later: W. R. Langford stated that it has been a long-time policy of S-9 for the 'Administrative Advisor, Coordinator, Chairman and Secretary of S-9 to attend the NCC meetings and that the nominating committee should take this into con- sideration when nominating officers for next year. 9. Regional Station Budget W. R. Langford presented the regional station budget for the coming year. A copy of the budget is attached. He stressed consideration of funds to construct a new seed storage facility worthy of the seed collection on hand. The motion to approve the budget was made by E. L. Whiteley and seconded by W. R. Langford. Approval was unanimous. 10. Inventory of Plant Germplasm Collections in Southern Region W. R. Langford stated that one function of the ARS Germplasm Coordinating Committee is to review annually the total ARS program of Plant Introduction, determine the germplasm needs, and make recommendations for new plant ex- plorations. In order to establish priorities for future explorations the committee needs to know what germplasm is now available in this country, especially those collections maintained at locations other than at the regional stations. H. W. Bennett stated that 5000 sweet sorghum accessions are maintained at the U. S. Sugar Crops Field Station near Meridian; a regional cotton variety collection of 1200 numbers of 1000 genetic varieties is maintained at Stoneville; and that GroupV soybeans, consisting of 1000 strains, are maintained at Stoneville.. Fike discussed the status of the blueberry collection in North Carolina and the probability of preparing and issuing a catalogue of the available stocks.. Dr. Whiteley commented on cotton introductions maintained in Texas. Dr. Jackson encouraged the committee to complete the survey of germplasm collections held at state stations and advise the coordinator of such collections. 11. Requests for Plant Explorations H. W. Bennett and E. L. Whiteley presented formal requests for collections of Paspalum and Bufflegrass, respectively. Copies of these requests are attached. Members of the committee suggested further exploration for tomato, crambe, kenaf, warm season legumes, fescue, Phalaris, Vaccinium, okra, Digitaria, Panicum, Eragrostis, and Capsicum. Dr. Jones stated that S-9 requests would be considered in competation with those from the other three regions, and he suggested formal written proposals with a good justi- fication would likely get more consideration than would informal requests. W. R. Langford stated that perhaps written requests with a strong justi- fication can be prepared for some of the species listed above by the time the ARS Germplasm Committee meets. , . 5 12. Regional Publication on Ornamental Plant Introductions R. J. Stadtherr discussed the progress that has been made toward the pub- lication of a regional bulletin on ornamental plant introductions. A copy of the report is attached. 13. Regional Publication on New Crops E. L. Whiteley reported that material for this publication is still being assembled. Dr. White will supply evaluations for many species that have not progressed beyond the seed increase and preliminary testing stage. Dr. Jackson encouraged committee members, who have material for this publication to submit it to Dr. Whiteley. • 14. Support for Project IR-1 Dr. Fike read a letter from Dr. Clare Harris, CSRS, giving the status of Project IR-1 been without a project leader since Dr. P. R. Rowe left IR-1 several months ago. Upon discussing the contributions of IR-1 to southern agriculture and the continue d need for potato germplasm, the consensus of opinion of the S-9 Committeewas that IR-1 should be continued and that funds should be made available to employ a new leader for It. Dr. Fike requested the resolutions committee to prepare a resolution ex- pressing the S-9 committee's attitude toward 15. Administrative Advisors Report C. R. Jackson reported on invitation to Dr. Fenton Sands, Director of Agricultural Experiment Station of the Virgin Islands, to appoint a representative to the committee. 16. Plan of Work for 1974 Dr. George White will keep the coordinator informed of any new accessions of chemurgic plants available for evaluation in 1974. Seed of available materials will be forwarded to the regional station for distribution to state-stations participating in the evaluation of chemurgic crops. 17. Committee Reports a. Nominating The Nominating Committee nominated E. L. Whiteley for Chairman and R. G. Creech for Secretary. The motion that nominations be . closed and that the nominees be elected by acclamation was made by G.