Priya Rajarapu

Priya Rajarapu works as a Christmas tree expert for Oregon State University’s Extension Service, helping Oregon’s 300-plus Christmas tree growers produce a healthy crop each holiday season so that the state can export millions of perfect trees across the world. An assistant professor in the College of Forestry, Rajarapu earned her doctorate in entomology, and is studying how to keep Oregon’s holiday industry thriving as the climate changes. …Oregon sold 3.17 million trees in 2023 – making it the top Christmas tree grower in the United States and contributing $118 million to Oregon’s economy. …Before his retirement, Rajarapu’s predecessor Chal Landgren established new species at the three-acre field site that she now oversees. For example, Nordmann and Turkish fir, both native to Georgia, now make up a small but growing percentage of Oregon’s crop. These species hold their needles longer after they’re cut. “They’re drought-and pest-tolerant,” Rajarapu said. “That reduces inputs such as chemical insecticides.”

Related content in Philomath News, by Mia Maldonado: Oregon researchers seek climate-resilient Christmas trees to protect state’s leading industry