New Horticulture Specialist Hired in the West Central Region

Published: November 26, 2018

Ramón Arancibia leads a discussion at a Virginia low tunnel field day in 2017

Ramón Arancibia is a new West Central Region Horticulture Specialist housed in Butler, Missouri, serving primarily Bates, Benton, Cass, Cedar, Camden, Cooper, Dallas, Henry, Hickory, Laclede, Johnson, Moniteau, Morgan, Pettis, Polk, St Clair and Vernon counties, but with additional coverage as needed. As the regional specialist, he will provide collaborative leadership and subject-matter expertise through educational opportunities to enable businesses, farms, families and communities to strengthen the economy and enhance the quality of life in Missouri.

Ramón has more than 30 years of experience in research and production of horticultural crops at six universities and as a grower back in Chile, where he is from. He graduated as an Agricultural Engineer with a major in fruit trees and berries at the University of Chile before coming to the U.S. as a visiting scientist to work on postharvest physiology/pathology at the University of California-Davis. He then went to Louisiana State University to obtain the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees while working as a Research Associate in vegetable crops. After graduation, he became a Research Specialist at the University of the Virgin Islands to lead their horticulture research program. He went back to the South to conduct sweetpotato research and outreach at Mississippi State University before becoming a faculty member at the Dept. of Horticulture, Virginia Tech. Some accomplishments include three book sections, 22 refereed articles, and 13 extension publications. In addition, Ramón contributed to the Mid-Atlantic Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations and the Southeastern U.S. Vegetable Crops Handbook. He has given over 200 presentation at farmer's production meetings, field days, workshops, and professional conferences.

In addition to facilitating and coordinating research and extension activities to address concerns of specialty crop farmers, Ramón has worked with a broad range of farmers of various cultural and ethnic backgrounds. He is enthusiastic on his move to Missouri and the opportunities MU Extension offers. His areas of expertise include sustainable/organic production systems, plasticulture/protected production systems, irrigation management and plant diseases.