Bowery Farming Partners with Arkansas Scientists on Indoor Spinach

Bowery Farming Spinach University of Arkansas

Newton Kalengamaliro, Ph.D., left, senior agricultural scientist with Bowery Farming Inc., works with Haizheng Xiong, Ph.D., program associate with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. Bowery Farming and the Division of Agriculture are collaborating on development of a disease-resistant spinach. (Photo: University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture)

Bowery Farming recently formed an agreement with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture to support research for developing spinach varieties that are bred for high-quality indoor production and to thrive in Bowery’s proprietary growing system.

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Scientists with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the Division of Agriculture, are conducting the research in partnership with scientists at Bowery’s research and development facilities.

Bowery Farming sells leafy greens and herbs at more than 1,100 U.S. grocery stores and major e-commerce platforms, including Walmart and Whole Foods Market. This year, the New York City-based company launched two varieties of strawberries. Bowery Farming is also expanding its geographic reach across the U.S. with a new indoor farm in Bethlehem, PA, with robotics, artificial intelligence, and other technology to manage the farm systems.

“The agreement between Bowery Farming and the Division of Agriculture highlights our dedication to improving modern agriculture using advanced breeding technologies,” says Jean-François Meullenet, Senior Associate Vice President for Agriculture Research and Director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. “Collaborations like this exemplify the kind of public-private research partnerships the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station has conducted for decades as part of our land-grant mission.”

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The renewable agreement with Bowery Farming supports the evaluation of high-yield breeding lines and studies that identify genetic markers in spinach for resistance to waterborne pathogens, such as Pythium, as well as other beneficial traits for growing spinach indoors.

Learn more about the partnership, and how it enhances the university’s research focus on breeding for indoor crops, here.

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