Dear friends of ECHO, 

We had a great symposium on neglected and underutilized crops in October and ECHO agriculture conference in November 2025. This Research Newsletter will update you on those events and alert you to a few research updates and opportunities for engagement.  

Research Events

IV International Symposium on Underutilized Plant Species 

This event was held 20-24 October in Fort Myers, Florida, hosted by ECHO under the auspices of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). There were 72 participants, mostly university faculty and students along with ECHO staff.  

Through the symposium, ECHO played a significant role in advancing scientific knowledge in support of underutilized plants for resilient and thriving food systems. Research was shared via 22 posters, 30 oral breakout sessions, talks by 6 invited plenary speakers, all interspersed with time for discussion and networking. Work is ongoing for publishing approximately 40 research papers into an e-Acta Horticulturae Proceedings. 

A day at ECHO’s Florida campus provided participants with a unique opportunity to tour our seed bank and demonstration gardens, and to participate in practical workshops, all of which augmented the scientific reports shared during the first two days of the symposium. The final day of the event included field excursions to surrounding agricultural sites, including the University of Florida’s Tropical Research and Education Center and nearby gardens that supply culturally-preferred produce to migrant farmworkers through the organization Cultivate Abundance. 

As many of the universities represented were within the United States, we gained a greater appreciation for temperature species of underutilized plants. There were, for example, several presentations on native pawpaw, Asimina triloba. We also gained insights into the diversity of plants being utilized both globally and within the state of Florida. It was noted that advances in communication technology have made it easier for people around the world to learn about promising crops and how to use them. 

Be aware that ISHS hosts numerous horticulture-related symposia around the world, with dates and locations accessible on the ISHS Calendar of Events web page. This page also has links to information about information and publications. 

ECHO International Agriculture Conference (EIAC) 

This is always a great opportunity to connect with research-minded members of ECHO’s global network and hear their ideas for future research. This year we devoted two evening sessions to gather input on 1) practices to validate and practices that are working but have not been shared widely; 2) how farmers receive information; and 3) ideas for evaluating the success of projects and interventions. Highlights of that discussion are below: 

Practices or crop options that need more validation and dissemination

Participants were also asked to suggest ideas for building the capacity of ECHO’s network to conduct research and share findings. Suggestions included practical training for farmer-led research and local trials, replicated trials to encourage adoption of proven practices, and the use of ECHO Development Notes (EDN) as a platform to share research findings. 

How farmers receive information 

The extent to which knowledge gleaned from research benefits farmers depends on how farmers readily receive information. Insights from participants are broken down as follows: 

Several overall principles emerged from the discussion. Those included: 

• Utilization of trusted information sources 
• Use of evidence-based information 
• Honoring farmer knowledge and existing models of information exchange 
• Blending of in-person sharing and digital tools 

Ideas for monitoring and evaluation of project interventions

As farmers experiment with and implement promising practices or crops, there is a need for what ECHO often refers to as MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning). Participants expressed interest in evaluation methods and asset mapping that are easy to implement. Their comments on MEAL are summarized in checklist form below: 

As ECHO’s impact is shared with that of individuals and organizations who utilize our resources, their ability to measure the effectiveness of their interventions also helps ECHO to gain a better sense of the difference we are making. With that in mind, we worked with Plant With Purpose staff who authored an excellent article in EDN 171 entitled The Difference-in-Differences Approach to Evaluate the Impact of a Project. Let us know if you have additional insights to share about MEAL.

Research Trial Updates

Evaluation of home-made biochar kilns

Excerpts of an ECHOcommunity Conversations post by Shaun Snoxell on research at ECHO Asia in collaboration with the National Metal and Materials Technology Centre of Thailand

ECHO Asia has tested three small scale biochar kilns to determine how the kiln design influences biochar characteristics. The study on biochar production was conducted using three types of kilns: the Retort Biochar Wood Vinegar Kiln (Retort Kiln), the Top-Lit Updraft Biochar Stove (TLUD), and the Kon-Tiki Biochar Stove (Kon-Tiki). Tests were conducted at ECHO Asia Impact Centre in Chiang Mai in April 2025. Maize cobs were used as the biomass in all three kilns. Temperature measurements were taken at three levels (top, middle, and bottom) for each kiln.

The findings showed that the Retort kiln produced the highest yield, with 28.2% of the maize cob biomass converted into biochar, followed by the TLUD kiln at 18.7%, and the Kon-Tiki kiln with the lowest yield at 16.9%.  The retort kiln results in the highest pyrolysis temperature and longer duration, followed by the TLUD. These kilns are likely to produce high quality biochar with higher porosity and lower tar residue. The resulting produce is likely to be suitable for use in water filtration. The Kon-tiki is also capable of producing reasonable quality biochar for use as a soil amendment, but this will be more variable. The retort kiln is higher yielding than the other kilns and also produces wood vinegar as a by-product. [More data and photos of the other kilns can be viewed in the ECHOcommunity Conversations post].

Azolla and duckweed production for livestock feed

Excerpts of EDN 172 content by Shaun Snoxell and Nitin Rex Sancho on research at ECHO Asia

Duckweed (Lemnaceae family) and azolla (Azolla genus) are two aquatic plants with high potential for use in livestock feed. In contexts where water is plentiful, production of these plants can be resource-efficient, requiring little financial or equipment input. In addition to their use as livestock feed, they have a range of useful applications such as water filtration and green manure.

At ECHO Asia, we feed both duckweed and azolla to chickens. We scoop plants out of the water using a plastic basket, and feed fresh plants directly to the chickens. We do not dry the plants before feeding. Chickens tend to find the azolla more palatable than the duckweed. However, in our context, duckweed tends to grow faster than azolla. Harvest and feeding takes just a few minutes.

ECHO Asia measured the increase in weight of duckweed and azolla per week under conventional management in November 2025. For each gram of duckweed added to a container, 4.5 grams were harvested after 7 days (doubling time in 3.23 days). For every gram of azolla added, 3 grams were harvested after 7 days (doubling time in 4.42 days). However, once the surface of the water is covered, or fertilization is delayed, the growth rate declined rapidly. [See EDN 172 for the full article]

Improving propagation techniques for four underutilized tropical species to increase adventitious rooting and establishment success 

An update by Stacy Swartz from ECHO in Florida 

As mentioned in the August 2025 newsletter, underutilized perennial vegetable species including chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius); Haitian basket vine (Trichostigma octandrum); and katuk (Sauropus androgynus) as well as fodder species like gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) are frequently propagated asexually using vegetative cuttings. However, the success of using cuttings is variable, and increasing rooting using simple techniques may improve cutting survival and shoot regrowth. Additional wounding of cambial tissue may increase the number of adventitious roots produced, leading to higher cutting survival. In July, 2025 we cut and sanitized cuttings of the above species at the ECHO North American

Regional Impact Center in Florida, USA, and divided into 6 treatments based on two main factors: 

(1) air drying or not air drying the cuttings for one day before planting 
(2) wounding the basal end of the cutting with a knife either once, 4 times, or not wounding.  

All cuttings were randomly placed by species and replication into planting trays and maintained in similar greenhouse conditions. Here is what we’ve learned to date: 

• Air drying (curing) a day before planting did not increase rooting. 
• Chaya and katuk initiated more and longer roots at a faster rate than Haitian basket vine and gliricidia. 
• The single cut or 4x cut to the base of cuttings explored in this study did not improve propagation success or root behavior on chaya but did generally increase the number of roots and root length of katuk cuttings.

Effect of NPK fertilizer on field establishment of chaya and Haitian basketvine with stem cuttings 

There is not much research that has been done on field-level horticultural practices to optimize the growth and productivity of chaya and Haitian basketvine. This study is part of an ongoing effort to assess the potential to increase growth and yield of these perennial, dark leafy greens with added fertility. To date, we’ve compared four rates of N (0, 37.5, 100, and 137.5 g per plant) using 8-2-8 (N-P-K) fertilizer applied at the base of each cutting planted into four-plant field plots arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications of each treatment (N rate). The cuttings were planted into the field in May 2025, at which time they received respective amounts of fertilizer. Cuttings that did take were replaced over time.  

A first round of data was taken in November 2025. What we’ve learned so far is that fertilizer amount had no effect on the final stand/count of live cuttings or the canopy width and area of either species. Success of field establishment with cuttings of these crops seems to be influenced more strongly by other factors (e.g., woody vs. soft tissue and planting cuttings in the rainy vs dry season) than fertilizer. With Haitian basketvine, for instance, we’ve had better success with woody than soft/green stem cuttings;  soft cuttings have worked well in the greenhouse but die back in the field, likely an effect of too much sun, even with regular drip irrigation. Going forward, we plan to assess the effect of additional fertility inputs on canopy growth of these crops.  

A freely-available software tool called ImageJ has been a convenient, non-destructive way to assess canopy area and width. It involves taking a photo directly above the canopy, with mulch or a white sheet on the ground. By including an object such as a ruler or stick of known length, the software calculates canopy parameters based on the green coloring (thus the importance of brown mulch or a white sheet on the ground to ensure that all the “green” is from the canopy as opposed to weeds on the ground). Perhaps this tool will be helpful to you in your research.

Opportunities for Engagement

• Would you be interested in conducting one or more trials suggested by EIAC 2025 conference participants (mentioned earlier in this newsletter)?  
• Would farmers in your area be interested in trialing a promising variety or practice on a small portion (to minimize risk) of their land (for relevance under their growing conditions)? This  could be as simple as two small plots comparing an innovation side-by-side with traditional practice. Let us know if this is something ECHO could work with you on. We could help with experimental design, deciding what to measure, and data analysis.  
• Would you be interested in trialing crop varieties in your context? Let us know if you would like to explore methodologies for one or more crops you are interested in.

Best regards,

Tim Motis, Ph.D.
Global Research and Publications Director
ECHO Inc.
To correspond with ideas and feedback about the topics of 
this newsletter, email publishing@echonet.org.