Growing Stevia for Market

Book excerpt: "Stevia rebaudiana" is a natural, low-glycemic alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners. It's also a promising crop suited to a wide variety of climates and soils "Growing Stevia For Market" is your complete guide to growing, harvesting, and marketing stevia leaves and bedding plants. Valuable information is compiled from growers, research trials, and the author's own experience. Includes stevia leaf buyers, sellers, and other resources. ""Stevia rebaudiana" thrives in a wide variety of climates and soils. It can be a perennial crop in some climates or an annual crop where winters are cold. However, the cultivation of stevia is fairly new. We've only begun to optimize procedures for commercial production. There is great potential for improvement in stevia yield, quality, and profits. This book provides a head start for academic and on farm experimentation. Best practices for stevia cultivation are suggested based on research studies from around the world as well as the author's own experience of growing and using stevia for over a decade. "Growing Stevia for Market" will help farmers, researchers, market gardeners, nurseries, and greenhouse operators succeed with stevia." - from the preface About The Author Jeffrey Goettemoeller grew up gardening alongside his dad and went on to earn a B.S. degree with a major in horticulture at Northwest Missouri State University. Under the direction of Dr. Alejandro Ching, Jeffrey completed a published research study on the production of "Stevia rebaudiana" seeds. Years later, he still grows and studies stevia. Jeffrey is the author of "Stevia Sweet Recipes: Sugar free-Naturally ," with over 300,000 copies in print, and "Growing and Using Stevia: The Sweet Leaf from Garden to Table with 35 Recipes." Contents List of Figures - vi Acknowledgements - viii Preface - ix Introduction - 1 1. Climate and Day Length - 7 2. Plant Propagation - 33 3. Field Preparation and Plant Care - 57 4. Field Planting - 93 5. Harvesting and Postharvest - 103 6. Marketing and Economics - 123 Appendix 1: Field Trial Summaries - 141 Appendix 2: Stevia Leaf Buyers - 167 Appendix 3: Selected Resources - 169 Glossary - 179 Bibliography - 187 Index - 193 About the Author - 205