Summary: The objectives for this project were: 1. Develop and utilize best management practices for optimal seed germination and accelerated development of healthy seedlings in the greenhouses and for field maintenance and development of superior horticultural practices that accelerate seedling growth and development and reduce time to flowering and fruiting 2. Use elite selections from the breeding program and new external sources of genetic superiority as parents for hybridization and selfing to produce seedling populations that segregate for target traits critical to each target market group 3. Integrate genomics knowledge, marker-assisted breeding tools, and classical breeding methods into the breeding program to optimize use of resources and reduce time to release of elite selections with commercial potential 4. Develop and implement a cost-effective strategy for collaborative breeder-grower identification and evaluation of elite new selections from the breeding program 5. Identify in Phase 2 at least one elite selection from any target market class that exceeds the threshold values for the primary and secondary traits of that target market class for advancement to Phase 3
