With the aim of establishing permanent funding for walnut breeding research, the California walnut industry has pledged a $1 million gift to the University of California, Davis. The endowment, to be contributed by the Walnut Marketing Board during the next five years, will create the California Walnut Breeding Research Fund at UC Davis. California grows virtually all of the walnuts in the United States, and is the largest producer of walnuts in the world. One of the state's five leading fruit and nut crops, with more than 180,000 producing acres, California walnuts had a pre-processing value of nearly $280 million in 1992. Researchers at UC Davis have been working for more than 50 years to develop new and improved varieties of walnuts. The time from the initial development of a new variety until it is evaluated and eventually released for commercial use spans about 15 years. The industry gift will provide the continuity in funds and staffing required for such long-term research. "The university is grateful to the walnut industry for its enduring support of agricultural research," said Gale McGranahan, a pomologist and an authority on walnuts, who will direct the breeding program. "We hope that this endowment will provide the stability necessary in a breeding program to solve many of the most pressing problems that face the industry," she said. The Walnut Marketing Board's gift will fund a staff researcher for the breeding program. One of the program's primary goals will be to develop walnut trees that bloom late and produce a crop early. This would avoid the blight that accompanies early spring rains and reduce the potential for worm infestation, while providing an early crop marketable for the holiday season, according to McGranahan. Researchers also will work to develop trees that produce a crop at an earlier age and, in the long-run, trees that are resistant to blight and blackline diseases.