Jan 15, 2025

Inside HM.CLAUSE’s Squash Breeding Program

Ask the Expert

Innovating for Growers’ Success

(Sponsored) HM.CLAUSE is redefining squash breeding by focusing on solutions catering directly to growers’ needs. Through interviews with Leo Camelo, business manager at HM.CLAUSE, Sarah Smith, squash breeder at HM.CLAUSE and Jon Gienapp, product manager at HM.CLAUSE, we explore how their collaborative approach delivers innovative varieties with enhanced disease resistance, labor efficiency and adaptability to diverse growing environments.

Could you share a bit about HM.CLAUSE’s approach to squash breeding? What sets your program apart from others in the industry?

“The squash breeding program is focused on developing products that meet the growers’ needs. We are developing products that have more disease resistance, are easier to harvest and have superior quality fruit with higher yields,” Camelo said. “Once the research team decides on the best new products, we hand them over to the PD and sales teams to evaluate,” Camelo explains. “If the PD and sales team want to advance a product, they increase the number of plants per trial over time to have a better idea how the new product compares to commercial products.”

How does your team work with growers to develop varieties tailored to specific needs?

“The breeding team meets with growers in different regions to learn about their challenges and discuss opportunities to help find solutions,” Smith said. “The growers help define the needs of each market and explain how challenges affect their business. Once we understand the needs, we can prioritize the traits in our programs.”

You offer an impressive lineup of varieties designed to meet specific growing slots and environments. How do your squash varieties address seasonal challenges for growers?

“One of the main focuses of our program is to identify new products that perform well throughout the year so the grower can focus on growing one or two varieties each year,” Gienapp said. “Our current portfolio is a great example of that with Leopard, Respect, Salute and Tribute and we hope to continue to build our portfolio in the future to continue to meet the needs of the growers.”

Can you tell us more about how your squash varieties contribute to labor efficiency?

“One of the ways we are working on labor efficiency is by identifying products that are easier to harvest,” Camelo said. “This allows harvesting crews to move through the field at a faster rate. Another trait that we assess is the openness of the plant structure. If a plant has too much leaf coverage, the harvesting crew must search through the plant taking more time to harvest the fruit. We evaluated both of these traits when developing our new product, Salute.”

Virus resistance is a common concern among growers. Can you share how Tribute and Reward are bred for higher resistance to poty virus plus CMV resistance?

“We can track resistance genes using DNA markers closely linked to the resistance genes. For Tribute and Reward, we were able to combine resistance genes using DNA markers. Then we tested the products over several years by inoculating them with the viruses of interest to confirm the resistance level of the product,” Smith said.

What innovations or goals is your team working toward to make future varieties more adaptable and productive to meet consumer needs?

“We are focusing on improving yields through developing products that will produce high-quality fruit in harsh environments, such as high temperatures and humidity, that can affect fruit formation,” Smith said. “We are also working to combine resistances to different pathogens so growers can feel confident that they will have fruit to harvest no matter what disease is present that particular growing season.”

To learn more about HM.CLAUSE, visit www.hmclause.com

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