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Jiwan Palta named WPVGA Researcher of the Year

Jiwan-Palta-20151
Jiwan Palta

Horticulture professor Jiwan Palta is the recipient of the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association Researcher of the Year Award for 2016.

According to the WPVGA announcement, Palta was nominated for serving “the Wisconsin potato industry for many years with his valuable research focusing on the impact of calcium and nitrogen nutrition on potato tuber quality and yield under heat and drought stress. Working in the areas of molecular biology, crop physiology, and postharvest quality, Palta has been involved in collaborative potato breeding and variety development activities to enhance farm sustainability. His research program recently led an effort to understand the mechanism of action of a natural lipid that acts as a bioregulator to help improve the shelf life of fruits, flowers and vegetables.”

Palta received the award during a banquet at the 2016 UW-Extension & WPVGA Grower Education Conference and Industry Show in Stevens Point in early February.

Commenting on the award, horticulture department chair Irwin Goldman noted Palta’s long track record of successful research and outreach in potato. “Jiwan has developed an in-depth understanding of calcium fertility and nutrition in potato and translated his findings into recommendations that are followed on many acres around Wisconsin and throughout the world. This award signifies the value of his contributions to Wisconsin’s potato and vegetable growers, one of our most important constituents in the state,” says Goldman.