Posts Tagged: Manuel Jimenez

'Great Day' morning program features UC Kearney Ag REC

The popular morning television program "Great Day," which airs daily on KMPH Channel 26 in Fresno, featured the work of scientists at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in six live segments during the five-hour program this morning.

Reporter Clayton Clark and photographer Ryan Hudgins arrived at the Kearney greenhouse at 4:30 a.m. to interview the scientists helping California farmers feed the nation and world sustainably.

See clips of the interviews in the one-minute video below:

Segments included:

• An overview of research and extension activities at Kearney by director Jeff Dahlberg.
  
  
• UC blueberry and blackberry research that has made these commodities important crops in the San Joaquin Valley with Manuel Jimenez, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Tulare County.
  
  
• Beneficial insects, pests and invasive species that are part of research by Kent Daane, UCCE specialist in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy Management at UC Berkeley. Daane shared a handful of leaf-footed bugs with the reporter.
  
  
• How global information systems are changing the way farmers and researchers are looking at farmings systems with Kris Lynn-Patterson, coordinator of the GIS program at Kearney.
  
  
• Just like people, plants get sick. UC plant pathologist Themis Michailides explained research efforts to cure plant diseases.
  
  
• Uncommon wine varieties that might lead to new fine wines ideally suited to be produced in the Valley's warm climate, with Matt Fidelibus, UCCE specialist in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis.
  
  
• The very real threat of West Nile virus in mosquitoes in the valley, with medical entomologist Anton Cornel.

Western Farm Press runs 1,000-word story on Kearney blueberry event

The annual Blueberry Open House at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center last month warranted lengthy coverage by Western Farm Press.

Freelance writer Dennis Pollock reported that Manuel Jimenez, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Tulare County, a small-scale farming expert, walked among the mature blueberry plants at Kearney, describing their good points and bad points.

"The perfect blueberry would be one that is big, firm, sweet, easy to harvest and grows in high pH (soil conditions)," he said.

At the event, Richard Molinar, UCCE advisor in Fresno County, small-scale farming, conducted a blueberry tasting, allowing those who attended to vote for their favorite three varieties. He said that variety isn't the only factor impacting flavor.

"Flavor is also affected by weather, soil factors, plant nutrition and irrigation frequency," Molinar said.

Jimenez introduced growers to two new research projects in blueberries:

• Jimenez and Larry Schwankl, Kearney-based UCCE irrigation specialist in the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, have teamed to study the effects of varying irrigation levels on blueberries.
  
  
• Jimenez has grafted popular blueberry varieties onto the roots of farkleberry (Viccinium abroreum), which has greater tolerance of alkaline soils like those found in the San Joaquin Valley. By reducing or eliminating soil and water acidification, using the alternate rootstock may provide a significant cut in production costs.

Manuel Jimenez leads a tour of the 15-year-old blueberry research plot.

UC aims to improve economic viability of California blueberry farms

California consumers have grown accustomed to enjoying locally grown blueberries in the last decade. Much of the credit goes to UC Cooperative Extension advisor Manuel Jimenez of Tulare County, who has been studying blueberry production and varieties at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center since 1998.

California’s abundant sunshine enables growers to produce high-quality, very sweet Southern Highbush variety blueberries. But, blueberry plants are difficult and expensive to establish and maintain, in part because of California's soil chemistry.

“Blueberries are adapted to grow in forests, in acidic soils,” Jimenez said. “We’re growing them in a desert in alkaline soil. That requires that we acidify the soil when we establish the crop and continuously acidify the irrigation water – which is very costly.”

For example, a 2009 Blueberry Cost Study produced by UC Davis calculated that equipment needs for acidification - including a storage tank, pump and monitoring kit - amounts to $5,500. In addition, the growers must purchase large quantities of sulfuric acid to add to the soil and irrigation water.

Reducing acidification cost is the goal of a new blueberry trial at Kearney, in which Jimenez has grafted the most common commercial blueberry varieties on the roots of farkleberry plants (Vaccinium arboreum). Farkelberry is a small, stiff-branched evergreen bush that is more tolerant of alkaline soils than blueberries.

So far, the two-month-old plants seem to be growing well in their naturally alkaline soil. The coming years will reveal whether using this technique will improve the economic viability of California blueberry farms and provide California consumers with local, healthful and delicious blueberries at a reasonable cost.

The project is being conducted in collaboration with Oregon State University and Florida State University.

Learn more about the blueberry trial by viewing the video below:

Not all blueberries are alike

As blueberries have become more a popular plant for home gardening, variety choices have blossomed, wrote Laura Christman in the Redding Record Searchlight.

When it comes to flavor it's hard to go wrong with any variety of homegrown blueberry, said Manuel Jimenez, a University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor specializing in blueberries.

"All the varieties that ripen on the plant are good," said Jimenez, who is based in Tulare County.

Among the varieties Jimenez recommends are Misty, Reveille, Sharpblue, Star, Legacy, Emerald and Jewel.

The best time to plant blueberries is in the fall, when the ground is warm and plants can establish roots, Jimenez said. However, most nurseries don't feature them in fall. The biggest selection of blueberry plants is available now.

Manual Jimenez talks blueberries at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center last fall.

Abundant holiday confections demand self-discipline

One of the hazards of the holiday season is the tendency to eat too many sugar-sweetened goodies, reported Claudia Mosby in the Redding Record-Searchlight.

UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor Concepcion Mendoza told Mosby the health problems related to consistent, excessive sugar consumption include obesity, diabetes, hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, increased risk of heart disease, depression, hypertension, cancer, tooth decay, gum disease and an overall undermining of the body's endocrine system.

"As our body tries to metabolize sugar, sugar draws on our body's reserve of vitamins and minerals," she said. "When those reserves are gone, the metabolism of good cholesterol and fatty acids is impeded, contributing to higher blood serum, triglycerides and bad cholesterol."

The article suggests eating a holiday treat when at celebrations, "but savor a small piece of something sweet rather than sampling everything available."

Woodlake Pride: Youth in gardens, out of gangs
Gosnia Wozniacka (Associated Press), San Francisco Chronicle

Over the past seven years, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Manuel Jimenez and his wife Olga have taught hundreds of young volunteers farming techniques, work habits and communication skills to prepare them for jobs or college. With creativity and help from the community, they turned 14 desolate acres into lush gardens of vines, vegetables and fruit trees. And the local police chief credits the program, Woodlake Pride, with helping fight local gang crime.

"We want to grow kids in our gardens, because we've seen what violence, drugs and alcohol can do," Jimenez said.

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