Gordie C. Hanna
Encyclopedia
Gordie C. Hanna was a University of California-Davis agronomy
professor who helped revolutionize the tomato
-growing industry. He won the John Scott Award
in 1976 for his development of a tomato variety capable of being machine-harvested. The variety came to be known as the "square tomato," being slightly blockier, preventing it from rolling off conveyor belts.
However, he was tight-lipped about much of his early work. “When he first began trying to breed such a tomato in 1942, Hanna kept his idea to himself, unsure of what others at the university would think of it”. “Perhaps for good reason: when his concept started to circulate, it was met with little support, in terms of both its technical feasibility and its anticipated negative impact on California agricultural labor.” Hanna's creation, variety VF145, became known as the square tomato, not because it was really square, but because its blockier shape prevented it from rolling off conveyor belts.
in 1976) to develop a harvester to reap the hardier variety of tomato. Engineering the equipment was no small challenge because tomato harvesting requires multiple functions, including cutting and lifting the vines, then separating the tomatoes from the vines. During the 1950s, the UC Davis team refined the experimental harvester and in 1959 convinced a California company, Blackwelder Manufacturing, to commercialize the design. Within three years of its introduction, the proportion of California's tomato acreage planted with mechanically harvestable tomatoes rose from 7 percent to 85 percent.
While mechanical harvesting was initially controversial because it seemingly displaced human labor, it reduced harvesting costs by nearly one half and eliminated an economic constraint on the US processing tomato industry, resulting in large increases in tomato acreage and yield. Those increases, in turn, provided additional employment in field work, transportation and processing that more than offset the displaced harvesting jobs.
Hanna also bred most of California’s disease-resistant asparagus and developed several internationally produced sweet potato varieties.
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
professor who helped revolutionize the tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
-growing industry. He won the John Scott Award
John Scott Award
The John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, created in 1816, is a medal presented to men and women whose inventions improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way...
in 1976 for his development of a tomato variety capable of being machine-harvested. The variety came to be known as the "square tomato," being slightly blockier, preventing it from rolling off conveyor belts.
Harvestable tomato variety
In the early 1940s, California’s tomato industry was threatened due to a lack of laborers to harvest the crops. In response, the UC Davis Agricultural Engineering department developed a mechanical tomato harvester. Unfortunately, the machine crushed the tomatoes. The University of California-Davis's Vegetable Crops department, led by Hanna, came to the rescue by breeding a firmer-skinned tomato.However, he was tight-lipped about much of his early work. “When he first began trying to breed such a tomato in 1942, Hanna kept his idea to himself, unsure of what others at the university would think of it”. “Perhaps for good reason: when his concept started to circulate, it was met with little support, in terms of both its technical feasibility and its anticipated negative impact on California agricultural labor.” Hanna's creation, variety VF145, became known as the square tomato, not because it was really square, but because its blockier shape prevented it from rolling off conveyor belts.
Tomato harvester
The development of the world’s first mechanical harvesting tomato wasn’t Hanna’s only contribution to tomato production. With the harvestable tomato in hand, in 1961 he teamed up with UC Davis agricultural engineer Coby Lorenzen (who also won the John Scott AwardJohn Scott Award
The John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, created in 1816, is a medal presented to men and women whose inventions improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way...
in 1976) to develop a harvester to reap the hardier variety of tomato. Engineering the equipment was no small challenge because tomato harvesting requires multiple functions, including cutting and lifting the vines, then separating the tomatoes from the vines. During the 1950s, the UC Davis team refined the experimental harvester and in 1959 convinced a California company, Blackwelder Manufacturing, to commercialize the design. Within three years of its introduction, the proportion of California's tomato acreage planted with mechanically harvestable tomatoes rose from 7 percent to 85 percent.
While mechanical harvesting was initially controversial because it seemingly displaced human labor, it reduced harvesting costs by nearly one half and eliminated an economic constraint on the US processing tomato industry, resulting in large increases in tomato acreage and yield. Those increases, in turn, provided additional employment in field work, transportation and processing that more than offset the displaced harvesting jobs.
Hanna also bred most of California’s disease-resistant asparagus and developed several internationally produced sweet potato varieties.
External links
- Remembering Tomato Man Jack Hanna - Cotton Boll Conspiracy