Texas retailers want locally grown produce. And AgriLife researchers and farmers are working to strengthen vegetable production in Texas to meet that demand.

According to United Supermarkets Produce Director Joseph Bunting, quality and freshness are the primary factors when shoppers select a grocery store.

Bunting told a crowd at a recent Summer Crops Field Day near Bushland that their stores “look to buy local first, then domestic, and if we can’t get those, we look at importing.”

Bunting said discussions with farmers have indicated they would like, and need, to diversify into the produce area.

AgriLife researchers are looking at high-value vegetable crop production under high tunnels, primarily in the High Plains, South Plains, Overton, Wintergarden and Weslaco areas. Those have been determined to be prime growing regions for vegetable production, according to AgriLife Today.

Breeding and variety trials have started, said Dr. Bill McCutchen, Texas A&M AgriLife Research executive associate director in College Station.

“We are going to work the growers, the vegetable association, retailers. We’re going to have a management team and we’ll have a vegetable group,” he said.

McCutchen said the program includes developing plant breeding and variety trials, cropping systems, integrated pest management, efficient irrigation technology, food safety and consumer and market research.

Some of the top priority crops include onions, watermelons, cabbage, spinach, cantaloupes, citrus and tomatoes, McCutchen said.

“If you can grow this produce within a 100- to 200-mile radius of the distribution facilities, there’s an incredible opportunity here,” McCutchen said. “This is the Texas Department of Agriculture, United, H-E-B and others saying this, not just me.”