Farmers, agricultural professionals and others interested in the latest crop research will have an opportunity to see ongoing work and talk to the scientists behind it during the 2026 Peanut, Cotton, Vegetable and Fruit Field Day at the Clemson University Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville, South Carolina.
The field day will be held Sept. 10. Registration is from 8 to 9 a.m., followed by concurrent peanut/cotton and vegetable/fruit field tours from 9 a.m. to noon. Pesticide and Certified Crop Adviser credits have been applied for.
Peanut and cotton field tour
The peanut and cotton tour will feature research and updates on crop varieties, disease and insect management, fertility, precision agriculture, weed control and breeding.
Topics include:
- Peanut varieties and early runner maturity – Dan Anco, peanut specialist
- Peanut pod and seed features affected by soil texture; late leaf spot fungicides – Shimran Dahal, Clemson master’s student and Anco
- Precision agriculture advancements in peanut – Aaron Turner and Kendall Kirk, precision agriculture engineers
- Weed management tests in peanut and cotton – Michael Marshall, weed specialist
- Cotton nitrogen fertility updates – Bhupinder Farmaha, soil fertility specialist
- Cotton disease/Nematode management – Maxwell Sturdivant, postdoctoral row crop pathologist
- Improving peanut value by simultaneous improvement in oil and protein –
Tursynbek Kaiyrbekov, graduate research assistant, and Sruthi Narayanan, associate professor of crop ecophysiology
- Cotton insect control – Jeremy Greene, entomologist
- Toward aflatoxin-free, reduced-allergen peanuts through breeding and management – Sachin Rustgi, molecular breeder
Vegetable and fruit field tour
A separate vegetable and fruit tour will showcase research involving sweet potatoes, collard greens, leafy greens and peaches.
Topics include:
- Advances in the sweet potato breeding program at the USDA-ARS U.S. Vegetable Laboratory – Phillip Wadl, research geneticist at the USDA-ARS U.S. Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina
- Anaerobic soil disinfestation and nutrient management in organic collard greens – Vasanthkumar SS, graduate research assistant, and Bhupinder Jatana, horticulturist
- Sunn-hemp cultivars and their biomass management for weed management and soil health in rotation with collard greens – Jatana
- Iron biofortification of collard greens by knowledge-based fertilizer-pesticide tank mixing – Arshdeep Kaur, graduate research assistant, and Jatana
- Basics of burndown herbicides in leafy greens demonstration- Matthew Cutulle, vegetable weed scientist
- Storage temperature and quality of South Carolina leafy greens- Karin Albornoz, postharvest physiologist
- Fall biopesticide applications to reduce overwintering bacterial spot pathogen load and spring cankers in peach trees – Junaed Ahmed, graduate research assistant, and Hehe Wang, bacteriologist
- Reducing copper use and phytotoxicity in peach orchards: integrating quaternary ammonium and biopesticides for bacterial spot management- Ahmed and Wang
Event details
- Date: Sept. 10
- Location: Clemson Edisto REC, 64 Research Road, Blackville, South Carolina 29817
- Registration: 8-9 a.m.
- Tours: 9 a.m. to noon
- Cost: Free
- Lunch: Noon to 1:15 p.m.
- Credits: Pesticide and Certified Crop Adviser credits have been applied for.
- Contact: Dan Anco, danco@clemson.edu, 803-284-3343 or Bhupinder Jatana, bjatana@clemson.edu, 864-633-9087
