Mark Lundy develops tools for farmers for effective nitrogen fertilizer management, working at the interface of research and the ag community.
Barbara Blanco-Ulate studies how fruit and vegetables ripen to improve their quality, nutrition and shelf-life after harvest.
Amelie Gaudin develops sustainable and resilient agroecosystems that have biodiversity and ecosystem services as a basis for improvement.
Brad Hanson works with farmers to control weeds and pests in perenni9al crops, improving both farm profits and the environment.
Bruce Linquist works with the farmers of California to ensure long-term sustainability of rice by looking at nutrient use, water efficiency and reducing pollution.
Giulia Marino empowers farmers to keep their orchards producing despite changes in climate, water and soil.
Grey Monroe seeks the causes and consequences of mutation bias in plant genetics and applies these findings to improve crops’ ability to thrive amid climate stress.
Cameron Pittelkow focuses on increasing crop productivity while reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint.
Li Tian uses biochemistry, physiology and genetics to increase the nutrition of wheat and pomegranates.
As growers face continued reductions in water available to irrigate crops, and while the world needs more food produced and more protein in particular, alfalfa offers an attractive option. It yields remarkedly well under reduced irrigation, and its protein can be consumed by both animals and people.
Researchers are working to answer questions and solve obstacles that remain to its wider use, visitors learned at the UC Davis Small Grains/Alfalfa Field Day held May 9. A range of topics were covered:
Anaerobic digesters are commercial facilities that break down food and yard waste to create energy by capturing methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The industry has been growing for decades, boosted in 2022 by a new requirement in California that all jurisdictions collect this waste and recycle it. It’s a key part of the state’s drive to reduce the dangerous, climate-warming gases that green waste creates when it decomposes in landfills.
