With USU Extension associate professor in the department of agriculture and natural resources Reagan Whytsalucy.
As a member of the Navajo Nation, one of Reagan's interests in her education and research has been making agriculture accessible to the Navajo Nation.
More specifically, Whytsalucy has been researching Southwest peaches, a crop brought to southwest Utah upon the arrival of early Spanish settlers.
Whytsalucy is here to tell us about her research with these peaches and the end goal she hopes to see from cultivating them.
Wynter Varner
Thank you for joining us today.
Reagan Whytsalucy
Thank you for having me.
Wynter Varner
Let's get down the basics, what's different about the Southwest peach when compared to the modern peaches we're used to?
Reagan Whytsalucy
They are a much smaller fruit, they compare more to an apricot in size. So they don't look like a typical peach that you get from the grocery store, but they taste like peaches.
Wynter Varner
How do they look different? What's the texture difference?
Reagan Whytsalucy
They're basically similar to, like an apricot, right?
Some of them are very juicy, some of them are a little bit more dry and mealy.
They still have the full texture of a peach, but a lot of people mistake them for being apricots. They're a little unique in that way.
They're just a smaller fruit, they're lighter in color, and there's not as much of a bright red blushing on the fruit itself.
Wynter Varner
Why are these peaches better suited for Utah's climate?
Reagan Whytsalucy
They are more drought-resistant.
The tribal communities all in the Southwestern states have historically been known to grow peaches, not just the Navajo tribe.
With the Southwest peach as a fruit source, and them also being drought-resistant, they had the guarantee of having fruit in some of these high desert and extreme drought conditions, or drought years, similar to what we're seeing now.
These trees are resilient in a lot of these extensive drought periods. So, as I look at the research for continuing to preserve this food source, one of the main components that I have been trying to ensure is seed purity.
That way, I can guarantee the genetic resource, so those resistant and drought tolerant characteristics remain intact.
If that's the case, we can make the peaches more widely available to people across our tribal communities and education systems to help benefit people that are in search of growing more drought-resistant food sources to sustain their livelihood.
Wynter Varner
Speaking of your research, what does your research look like?
Reagan Whytsalucy
Early on, it was about identifying the tree itself by actually trying to track down if any of these trees existed.
Less than 2% of the original orchards remain in place today in and across tribal communities.
So, they are a significant food resource, but also a cultural resource in many different aspects across tribal communities.
A lot of the die-off of the populations is a lack of passing down education and the practice of caring for the orchard within the family. So, another problem is livestock integration.
There's a lot of historical context that has kind of impacted the ability for people to continue to pass down the knowledge as well, such as boarding schools, Christian foster programs that housed tribal youth, removing them from their homes.
With all of that, my current research right now is looking at and focused on trying to identify ways that we can propagate these trees without seed propagation.
Historically, the trees have all been seed-propagated, and that's how the tribal communities spread and replicated the trees.
Grafting has not been done, and I've not attempted it yet. We're trying to keep the trees on their own root system, because we do know that that root system is ideal for caring for the drought-resistant qualities that the tree possesses.
We're looking at propagation with soft wood cuttings currently, that's a collaboration with New Mexico State University and a few professors up at Utah State University who continue to support this work.
Wynter Varner
So, how can people at home learn more about and support your research?
Reagan Whytsalucy
There's a lot of people that have reached out and have offered to say, "Hey, we have space if you need to plant trees."
It is so appreciated that there's so many people that have so much drive to want to help in any way possible that they can.
I don't mind sending trees out to people, I'm just at a limited seed supply.
So I've just been creating a waiting list for people that have been asking for the trees.
I don't charge. I'm very happy if people reach out and ask to be a part of the list.
There's some things on the rise and coming forward to be able to help secure the sustainability and longevity of this viable fruit source.
Wynter Varner
Thank you again for joining us today, Reagan.
Reagan Whytsalucy
Thank you for having me.
Wynter Varner
This has been Wynter Varner with the USU Extension Education Highlights. Thank you for tuning in.
