A driverless, autonomous weed cultivator is being tested at UC Davis, uprooting weeds with wheels of fingers as it travels. Steve Fennimore, Plant Sciences, is working with Simon Belin at Naio Technologies. The goal is to reduce labor, costs, and herbicide use.
Kester almond was developed at the University of California, Davis, Almond Breeding Program with support from the Almond Board of California. The program was developed to breed new varieties and germplasm to meet the emerging needs of the expanding California almond industry. Professor Tom Gradziel in Plant Sciences, has conducted much of the research.
For the first time, plant scientists at UC Davis and UC ANR harvested an industrial hemp crop at UC locations. Working on the project are Professor Charlie Brummer, and Cooperative Extension Specialists Bob Hutmacher and Dan Putnam – all three are faculty in the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis.
Small-scale farmers in Cambodia work with UC Davis’ Horticulture Innovation Lab and Royal University of Agriculture researchers to test methods for growing and selling produce. Farmers recognize that fruits and vegetables meet nutrition needs, and help lift themselves out of poverty. (Includes video)
The USDA will allow the release of a weevil (Ceratapion basicorne) in the United States to help control yellow starthistle, an invasive weed found in 40 of the lower 48 states. The weevils will initially be released in California. Brad Hanson, weed specialist in Plant Sciences, addresses management of yellow starthistle.
Brassica plants, such as broccoli, produce metabolites that benefit humans (flavor, anti-cancer defenses), benefit the plant (attacking insects) and, in new research, defend against drought. Dan Kliebenstein’s lab examines drought tolerance in Arabidopsis.
Control of branched broomrape, a parasitic weed that can badly infest tomato and other crop fields, was addressed by UC Davis, UC ANR researchers — Brad Hanson, Mohsen Mesgaran, and Matt Fatino — at the annual Weed Day field day at UC Davis.
While much of the 2019 Tahoe State of the Lake Report is about the lake itself, it also addresses the severe defoliation that many aspen stands are facing due to white satin moth. Information on other UC Davis tree loss and restoration research in the Sierra Nevada and other forests is cited.
Thinning forests and conducting prescribed burns may help preserve trees in future droughts and bark beetle epidemics expected under climate change. Thinning and prescribed fires reduced the number of trees that died during the bark beetle epidemic and drought that killed more than 129 million trees across the Sierra Nevada between 2012–2016.
