Why Hazelnut?

Hazelnut is a small tree or shrub that produces a tasty nut that we find in candy bars and Nutella. Commercial hazelnut plants are grown mainly in Turkey and Italy, with small acreage in Oregon. Hybrid hazelnuts, crosses between the commercial European hazelnut and wild native American hazelnut have been trialed in university plantings and are becoming available. Hybrid hazelnuts have attributes that allow them to be grown outside of traditional hazelnut regions including cold hardiness and resistance to Eastern Filbert Blight, a fungus that can kill or severely hamper the growth of European cultivars. Hybrid hazelnut is a high value low maintenance crop that suffers few pests and diseases and is a perennial plant which persists in the landscape year after year with no need for regular tillage and replanting. This provides the potential for large swaths of Eastern North America to be opened to hazelnut cultivation and perennial agriculture. Democratek is working on perfecting the in vitro propagation of hazelnut so that we can participate in making the new plant material more widely available.   
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