Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village

Growing, Harvesting, and Packing  Federal and state laws governing the process and systems by which fruits and vegetables are grown, harvested, packed, or held have changed significantly since the 1950’s.

“To ensure the quality of our produce, we are continuously analyzing and amending our food safety policy. We are certified by the USDA under the Good Agricultural Practices Audit and are constantly monitoring all aspects of our growing, packaging and shipping process.” Taylor Cartanza, Shadybrook Farms, Dover Delaware 1

The U.S. Department of Agriculture works with state agricultural departments to enforce Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) safeguards against the entry, establishment, and spread of economically and environmentally destructive pests, and facilitates the safe import and export of agricultural products.  2

Fungal Disease and Invasive Insects decimated various fruit and vegetable crops in Delaware during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Losses from blight and pests spurred research in agronomy (plant science) and led to the widespread use of pesticides.

                     Fungal Disease 

A viral disease called the “peach yellows,” known to be present in wild plum and transmitted by leafhoppers, spread across Delaware peach orchards in the 1890s with devastating effects. 3

At one point in the state’s history, southern Delaware was known as the Strawberry Capital due to soil and growing conditions conducive to growing strawberries. In the 1920s and 30s, strawberry farmers suffered huge losses when a common fungus destroyed their fragile crop. 4

Sweet potatoes were once a leading source of farm income in the state. The boom years for Delaware sweet potatoes ended with a blight known as black rot around 1940.  5

Sweet potatoes have made a comeback!   Watch the harvest at Plum Creek Farms.

A native of China, the Spotted Lanternfly was first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2014, spreading to Delaware in 2017, and subsequently to 12 other states. After finding this notorious hitchhiker in all three Delaware counties, the Delaware Department of Agriculture quarantined the entire state. 7

Scientific & Technological Advances

In the early 1900’s Samuel H. Derby (S.H. Derby & Co., Woodside, Delaware) enlisted professors at Delaware College to conduct research on his farm. He was instrumental in getting a USDA entomologist assigned to Dover and part of the Derby farm was used to test insect management. Ahead of his time in pest control, S.H. Derby made his own pesticides and built his own agricultural sprayers. 8

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles developed by the Environmental Protection Agency include comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment.  Applying IPM principles, many commercial growers work with agronomists who scout their fields and alert the growers to the presence of any pests and diseases.  10

Nutrient management is a prescriptive tool used by farmers and advisers to improve stewardship of manure and fertilizer used to increase soil productivity for crops. 

Precision agriculture management enables the farmers to determine how much water, fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide is needed in specific portions of the field. (source: Nebraskacorn.gov)

 
                         "Growing vegetables is much more involved than growing grain. You have to

                          pay more attention to what’s going on in your fields or you don’t get a quality

                          crop.  Vegetables need more irrigation than grain because they aren’t as deeply

                          rooted. Too much rain can rot your crop so in wet conditions you have to use

                          extra fungicide.” Stanley West, Charles H. West Farms Inc., Milford, Delaware 11

Hybrid seeds mature faster, perform better in drought conditions and are resistant to insect pests and disease.