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LinkedInPosts Tagged: strawberry
13th Annual Strawberry Production Meeting in August
Join Ventura County strawberry growers at the 13th Annual Strawberry Production Meeting!
Strawberries are the largest crop grown in Ventura County and represent millions in revenues to the area. UC Ventura County Cooperative Extension advisor Dr. Oleg Daugovish sponsors this event every year to update the public and county growers on the latest in strawberry research. The meeting will feature agricultural experts who will speak on topics relevant to strawberry production in Ventura County. Several presentations will focus on irrigation, an important issue for growers in drought-susceptible southern California.
Time: 7:30 (registration); 8:00 am to 12:30 pm
Location:
Freedom Center
516 Eubanks Rd.
Camarillo, CA
Event is free, no cost to public and includes lunch and refreshments.
In English and in Spanish
Contact Oleg Daugovish at 805-645-1454 or odaugovish@ucdavis.edu for registration or to make special arrangements.
See here to view flyer/agenda for this event!
Continuous education credits have been approved from the Department of Pesticide Regulation and VCAILG credits have been requested from the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Water Quality and Southern California Agriculture
Assessing water quality for Southern California agriculture typically revolves around the total salinity of the water, its total dissolved solids (TDS), and the toxic ions boron, sodium and chloride. Salts are necessary to plants, because it is in the form of diluted salts that all nutrients are taken up by plants- the macro and micronutrients plants extract from the soil. High salinity leads to water imbalance problems much as if the plant were not getting adequate water. A toxicity problem is different from a salinity problem, in that toxicity is a result of damage within the plant rather than a water shortage. Toxicity results when the plant takes up the toxic ions and accumulates the ions in the leaf. The leaf damage that occurs from both toxicity and salinity are similar in that it causes tissue death known commonly as "tip burn." The damage that occurs depends on the concentration of the ions in the soil water around the roots, the crop sensitivity and crop water use, and the length of time the crop experiences the ions. In many cases, yield reduction occurs. Because crops can not excrete salts the way humans do, salts gradually accumulate in a plant. As a result plants need a higher water quality than humans do.
Much study in many countries has gone into evaluating water for crop use. Some of these studies have been on the effects of salts on soil characteristics. Generally, as sodium concentration increases, a soil will lose its aggregation, eventually leading to poor water infiltration. Many more salinity and toxicity studies have been done on plants themselves. Not all crops are equally tolerant of salinity and toxicities, and in general most plants respond to salinity and toxicities in a similar fashion. If a plant is intolerant of salinity, it will be intolerant of chloride, sodium and boron. Most annual crops are less sensitive to salts than tree crops and woody perennials, although symptoms can appear on any crop if concentrations are high enough. The reason for greater sensitivity for perennial crops is that the tree is sitting in the ground absorbing salts for a longer period than the lettuce plant that is harvested 3 months after planting. Furthermore, deciduous trees like walnut shed their leaves each winter, so they can handle salinity better than evergreens like citrus and avocado.
To manage salinity and toxicities, water management is the key. Depending on water quality, an excess of water will be applied to the soil to leach the previously applied salts away from the root zone. The poorer the water quality, the more excess water is applied.
Selecting a less sensitive crop is also an alternative when dealing with poor water quality. Some barley varieties can handle salinity similar to ocean water. Barley nets a grower $400 an acre, avocados $9,000 and $25,000 if the market is right for strawberries. Avocados are salt sensitive, so are strawberries and lemons and cherimoyas and star fruit and blueberries and raspberries and mandarins and nursery crops. We grow these because with our climate, very few other places can grow them and they return enough money for a grower to stay in business in an area where land, water and labor are expensive. We really don't have much in "alternative crops" to grow here.
avocado fruit
New UCCE Ventura Published Article - Management of Lewis Spider Mite in Strawberry
The article focuses on experiments performed in the laboratory and the field on the Lewis spider mite and the two-spotted spider mite. Tests were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of four types of predatory mites in controlling both kinds of spider mite. Miticide efficacy was also tested on the Lewis spider mite in bioassays.
These mites can cause serious damage to strawberry and other agricultural crops with subsequent financial loss to growers. Spider mite research is particularly relevant to Ventura County where strawberry production is the top crop grown and spider mite infestations have been on the rise.
Anna Howell is an experienced entomologist who has contributed her efforts to many research projects here at UCCE Ventura. Dr. Daugovish is UCCE's strawberry and vegetable crop adviser whose applied research benefits county growers and is an active contributor to "Strawberry Disorders: Identification and Management" website, a resource for assisting in diagnosing problems in strawberry.
You can view the entire article here.
UCCE Ventura Celebrates 100 Years of UC Cooperative Extension Service
The University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) division is celebrating 100 years of service and science to the state of California. In May 2014 UC ANR will mark the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Lever Act, legislation that created Cooperative Extension, a nationwide system of community-based education, established as part of each state's land grant university.
The Ventura County UC Cooperative Extension is our local component of this structure where we serve the community through youth development programs, agricultural outreach and research, home gardening programs, natural resource education and projects, environmental horticultural and landscape expertise. We also work in conjunction with the Hansen Agriculture UC Research and Extension Center (REC) in Santa Paula where agricultural research projects and educational outreach programs are conducted in a dedicated agricultural setting.
Join us at our 100th anniversary celebratory meeting in Oxnard and learn more about the extension and research activities.
Date: January 29, 2014
Time: 8:00 am to Noon
Location:
Courtyard by Marriott
600 E. Esplande Dr.
Oxnard
RSVP by January 20, 2014 to 805-525-3839, ext. 214 or sbmiller@ucanr.edu or respond online.
Click here for more information and the agenda.
Strawberry Disorders Website Launched
The website explores chemical injury, nutritional disorders, physical and physiological disorders found in the field and during research. The team collaborates and shares information about these issues and discuss methods for dealing with them.
The website is presented in English and in Spanish and is accompanied by large photos that focus on the problem areas.
Check out the new website: Strawberry Disorders: Identification and Management.
