CASHING IN ON COVER: VALUATION OF BUCKWHEAT LINES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC, AND HUMAN HEALTH.

Our goal isto take a first step to developing productive, ecologically valuable, and marketable buckwheat lines for producers in Western Washington. We aim to assess the suitability of lines in our region, niche end use potential, and optimal breeding targets. We will achieve two objectives: (1) dissect the relationships between yield, agroecological service provisioning, and nutritional quality traits in buckwheat and (2) assess producer willingness to pay for agroecological and agronomic traits. The proposed research will inform the selection of suitable commercial varieties for Western Washingtonand guide the development of improved buckwheat lines.