Public Update on Research Progress with Sweet Basil to Strengthen Disease Resistance & Develop New Varieties Meeting Growers and Consumer Needs
‘Fields of Devotion’ screening in New Brunswick, 2-4pm on March 3rd

Please click here to RSVP today.
- Fields of Devotion film screening
- A discussion with the film’s featured farmers and scientists
- Networking reception for farmers, scientists, and students
Fields of Devotion film screening at 2023 New Jersey Agricultural Convention & Trade Show at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, on Tuesday February 7th.
Fields of Devotion (30 minutes) features New Jersey farmers and Rutgers scientists partnering to develop climate resilient and disease resistant food crops to empower growers.
Discussion with the featured farmers and scientists immediately following screening.
Watch the Fields of Devotion trailer by clicking here.
Event description: Small family farms in New Jersey are racing against climate change. Unpredictable weather and new diseases are threatening the very crops they depend upon. Fields of Devotion follows the decade long partnership between Rutgers plant biologists, the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES), and New Jersey herb farmers who together developed lines of sweet basil resistant to downy mildew, a devastating disease destroying Ocimum species around the world.
Building upon more than a century of Rutgers’ support for New Jersey growers, Fields of Devotion is told from the perspective of the farmers and graduate science students who together help realize Rutgers land grant mission of community engagement and academic excellence.
For those attending the New Jersey Vegetable Growers Association (NJ-VGA) or the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s (NJDA) 2023 Annual Meeting we cordially invite you to please join us this February 7th at 3:30 pm in Wildwood Rooms 8 and 9.
Contact: Andy Wyenandt, Extension Specialist in Vegetable Pathology, Rutgers University
email: wyenandt@njaes.rutgers.edu
REMINDER – Vegetable Research Plot Tour at RAREC Tonight
Wednesday, August 24, 2022, 4:30 pm (meet at the shelter near the parking lot)
Rutgers Agricultural Research & Extension Center
121 Northville Rd., Bridgeton, NJ (Upper Deerfield)
PESTICIDE CREDITS approved for this event:
1A (AGRICULTURAL PLANT) – 07
10 (DEMONSTRATION & RESEARCH) – 07
PP2 (PRIVATE APPLICATOR CATEGORY) – 07
4:30 – Welcome and Intros – Rick VanVranken, Atlantic County Agricultural Agent
5:00 – 8:30 pm Tour of research plots and discussions with Rutgers Extension Specialists
Thierry Besancon, PhD, Extension Weed Specialist for Specialty Crops
- Cover-Crops for Row Middle Weed Management in Plasticulture Tomato.
- Cover-Crops for Row Middle Weed Management in Plasticulture Cucumber.
- Crop Safety of Delayed Preemergence Herbicide Application for Cole Crops (Broccoli and Cabbage)
Andy Wyenandt, PhD, Specialist in Vegetable Pathology
- Bacterial Leaf Spot Development in Pepper and Tomato in NJ
- Copper Resistance Development in Bacterial Leaf Spot
- Basil Downy Mildew Breeding Program Update
- Bell and Non-bell Phytophthora Tolerance Trials
Joe Ingerson-Mahar, PhD, Vegetable IPM Coordinator
- Comparing the response of corn earworm to GMO and non-GMO sweet corn varieties and the resistance to BT corn
2022 Annual Vegetable Twilight Meeting & Research Tour
Wednesday, August 24, 2022, 4:30 pm (meet at the shelter near the parking lot)
Rutgers Agricultural Research & Extension Center
121 Northville Rd., Bridgeton, NJ (Upper Deerfield)
PESTICIDE CREDITS approved for this event:
1A (AGRICULTURAL PLANT) – 07
10 (DEMONSTRATION & RESEARCH) – 07
PP2 (PRIVATE APPLICATOR CATEGORY) – 07
4:30 – Welcome and Intros – Rick VanVranken, Atlantic County Agricultural Agent
5:00 – 8:30 pm Tour of research plots and discussions with Rutgers Extension Specialists
Thierry Besancon, PhD, Extension Weed Specialist for Specialty Crops
- Cover-Crops for Row Middle Weed Management in Plasticulture Tomato.
- Cover-Crops for Row Middle Weed Management in Plasticulture Cucumber.
- Crop Safety of Delayed Preemergence Herbicide Application for Cole Crops (Broccoli and Cabbage)
Andy Wyenandt, PhD, Specialist in Vegetable Pathology
- Bacterial Leaf Spot Development in Pepper and Tomato in NJ
- Copper Resistance Development in Bacterial Leaf Spot
- Basil Downy Mildew Breeding Program Update
- Bell and Non-bell Phytophthora Tolerance Trials
Joe Ingerson-Mahar, PhD, Vegetable IPM Coordinator
- Comparing the response of corn earworm to GMO and non-GMO sweet corn varieties and the resistance to BT corn
Sweet Basil Virtual Workshop This Thursday and Friday

Sweet basil infected with basil downy mildew.
Managing Basil Under Increasingly Challenging Conditions, a virtual workshop, will be held this Thursday, Dec. 10, and Friday, Dec. 11. Hosted by University of Massachusetts in collaboration with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and the University of Florida as part of our USDA/SCRI/NIFA supported Sweet Basil Research Initiative, with Drs. Jim Simon and Andy Wyenandt of Rutgers co-coordinating the educational program for growers, Extension workers, researchers and industry reps.
The virtual sessions will be on the Zoom platform. Links and other means of connecting will be shared in another post before the meeting begins after you register here <https://forms.gle/iofJ79idzyG3j48ZA>.
Click here to view the updated agenda. All meeting times are Eastern Standard Time running 9:00am to 5:15pm on Dec. 10, and 9:00am to 12:30pm on Dec. 11. Feel free to join in or leave at any time to learn about the topics that interest you.