Wheat was the first Western crop planted in California more than 250 years ago, and it’s still a strong contender for growers seeking options as temperatures get hotter and water turns more salty and scarce, researchers at UC Davis told growers and industry representatives this week.
Graduate students took home first- and second-place honors for their poster presentations at the annual California Plant and Soil Conference, hosted by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources in Fresno, Calif., recently.
Rangelands scientist Leslie Roche is helping ranchers and rangeland managers meet those challenges. Her work has gotten a boost: She recently was named the Russell L. Rustici Endowed Specialist in Cooperative Extension in Rangeland Watershed Science.
Diversity programs across education have done a good job of exposing girls to science, University of California scientist Louise Ferguson said. “I see plenty of girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and medicine). What I don’t see is plenty of women in the boardroom.”
Matthew Fatino, a Ph.D. candidate in UC Davis' Department of Plant Sciences, was named WSSA graduate student of the month. Passionate about weed science, his research focuses on in-season management of branched broomrape, a threat to California's tomato and seed industries.
UC Davis researchers, led by Professor Brad Hanson, combat Orobanche ramosa, a parasitic weed threatening California's $1.5 billion tomato industry. Funded by the California Tomato Research Institute, the multidisciplinary effort focuses on detection, management, and long-term solutions.
Leslie Roche helps farmers and ranchers manage their rangelands profitably and sustainably. At this seminar, she'll talk about linking research and management to support rangeland resilience.
Tree nut experts from around the world are gathering at the UC Davis Convention Center this week to discuss the challenges faced by the people growing and processing almonds and pistachios. Researchers are outlining possible solutions and exchanging ideas for how to combat problems of water scarcity, increasingly saline water and soils, rising wintertime temperatures and new pests that come with the changing conditions.
Plant breeders can help America re-orient our dominant system of single-crop agriculture toward a multi-crop landscape that is less costly to farmers, better for the environment, helps slow climate change and still yields a profit. But, those efforts are just one part of a complex system that also will require the buy-in of farmers themselves, supported by political will, new agricultural policies and the cooperation of scientists, seed companies, machinery and fertilizer manufacturers, insurance providers, banks and environmental groups.
The nonprofit organization Pacific Horticulture has released a new video describing research to develop irrigation recommendations for landscape plants, the science behind the process, and early ideas for mindful gardeners and landscapers. It features UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences horticulturalist Lorence Oki, the lead investigator on the project.
