Cooperative Extension

Experimental robots are reducing the costs of hand-weeding by learning the difference between weeds and lettuce. In addition, steam can clear the soil of fungi and spores that cause lettuce and spinach to wilt, reducing the need for chemical herbicides in the bargain, according to the latest research by Steve Fennimore and his lab at the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences.

As California enters a third summer of record drought, farmers who raise nursery and floral crops are looking for ways to grow plants with less water, more efficiently, while fighting new diseases and detecting plagues quicker.

Researchers with the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences are finding ways to help, with support from the Plant California Alliance. The grower-supported organization has granted nearly $400,000 to the department since 2006, according to college records.

Rangeland specialist Leslie Roche will bring her California ranching background to her new role on the board of directors of the Society for Range Management (SRM).

Pima cotton is the predominant variety of cotton grown in California. It’s ideal for making premium fabrics for clothing and bed sheets. But Fusarium wilt disease, caused by a soil-borne fungus, can devastate a cotton crop. It’s responsible for crop losses in several production regions in the U.S. and worldwide. 

“Ice cream in the making” – this is the unusual designation given to alfalfa by Dan Putnam, a Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis.

Alfalfa is often overshadowed by California’s more famous vegetable and fruit crops, like nuts and wine, despite the key roles it plays for our food systems. It’s a highly productive crop that serves as the basis for milk, cheese, leather, honey and wool production. In other words, what lies behind the carton of ice cream on the refrigerator shelf is a field of alfalfa.