- Author: Ben Faber
The Citrus Research Board (CRB), in coordination with the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM), will hold the first and second webinars of the 2021 CRB Webinar Series on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, and Tuesday, June 8, 2021.
One hour of continuing education units through the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) is pending and available for those in attendance at each webinar.
The series will kick-off on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, with Dr. Greg Douhan, Area Citrus Advisor for Cooperative Extension Tulare County, providing an update to the industry. He will be followed by Mandy Zito, Deputy Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer for Fresno County Department of Agriculture, who will cover laws and regulations pertaining to pesticides, pest control operations, and worker safety that have gone into effect since 2017.
This webinar is approved for 1-hour of “Laws and Regulations” continuing education units from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) and Certified Crop Advisor (CCA).
Click Here to Register for the June 1 Webinar >
On Tuesday, June 8, 2021, Sonia Rios, Area Subtropical Horticulture Advisor for Cooperative Extension Riverside County, will provide an update to the industry. She will be followed by Dr. Sandipa Gautam, Assistant Research Entomologist at the UC Kearney Agricultural Center, who will cover various topics in citrus IPM. She will cover basic California redscale biology and information about selecting insecticides for organic and conventional treatment for Asian citrus psyllid as well as ants and thrips.
This webinar is approved for 1-hour of “Other” continuing education units from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) and Certified Crop Advisor (CCA).
Click Here to Register for the June 8 Webinar >
On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, Dr. Ben Faber, Regional Farm Advisor for Cooperative Extension Ventura County, will provide an update to the industry. He will be followed by Casey Creamer, President/CEO of California Citrus Mutual, and Austin Ewell, Executive Director of Blueprint. They will discuss the current state of affairs of surrounding California water, activities of the Water Blueprint, and thoughts on how the citrus industry is positioned to deal with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
This webinar is approved for 1-hour of “Other” continuing education units from Certified Crop Advisor (CCA).
Click Here to Register for the June 15 Webinar >
On Tuesday, June 22, 2021, Cindy Fake, Regional Farm Advisor for Cooperative Extension Placer and Nevada Counties, will provide an update to the industry. She will be followed by Dr. Tracy Kahn and Dr. Mike Roose, who will share an update on the results of the multi-location lemon scion and rootstock trials. This will include tree health, tree size, yield per tree and packline data on fruit characteristics.
This webinar is approved for 1-hour of “Other” continuing education units from Certified Crop Advisor (CCA).
- Author: Erin Rodger
Communications Director Cornell University
Wines and table grapes exist thanks to a genetic exchange so rare that it's only happened twice in nature in the last 6 million years. And since the domestication of the grapevine 8,000 years ago, breeding has continued to be a gamble.
When today's growers cultivate new varieties – trying to produce better-tasting and more disease-resistant grapes – it takes two to four years for breeders to learn whether they have the genetic ingredients for the perfect flower.
Females set fruit, but produce sterile pollen. Males have stamens for pollen, but lack fruit. The perfect flower, however, carries both sex genes and can self-pollinate. These hermaphroditic varieties generally yield bigger and better-tasting berry clusters, and they're the ones researchers use for additional cross-breeding.
Now, Cornell scientists have worked with the University of California, Davis, to identify the DNA markers that determine grape flower sex. In the process, they also pinpointed the genetic origins of the perfect flower. Their paper, “Multiple Independent Recombinations Led to Hermaphroditism in Grapevine,” published April 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
“This is the first genomic evidence that grapevine flower sex has multiple independent origins,” said Jason Londo, corresponding author on the paper and a research geneticist in the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Grape Genetics Unit, located at Cornell AgriTech. Londo is also an adjunct associate professor of horticulture in the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS), part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
“This study is important to breeding and production because we designed genetic markers to tell you what exact flower sex signature every vine has,” Londo said, “so breeders can choose to keep only the combinations they want for the future.”
Today, most cultivated grapevines are hermaphroditic, whereas all wild members of the Vitis genus have only male or female flowers. As breeders try to incorporate disease-resistance genes from wild species into new breeding lines, the ability to screen seedlings for flower sex has become increasingly important. And since grape sex can't be determined from seeds alone, breeders spend a lot of time and resources raising vines, only to discard them several years down the line upon learning they're single-sex varieties.
In the study, the team examined the DNA sequences of hundreds of wild and domesticated grapevine genomes to identify the unique sex-determining regions for male, female and hermaphroditic species. They traced the existing hermaphroditic DNA back to two separate recombination events, occurring somewhere between 6 million and 8,000 years ago.
Londo theorizes that ancient viticulturists stumbled upon these high yielding vines and collected seeds or cuttings for their own needs – freezing the hermaphroditic flower trait in domesticated grapevines that are used today.
Many wine grapes can be traced back to either the first or second event gene pool. Cultivars such as cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and Thompson seedless are all from the first gene pool. The pinot family, sauvignon blanc and gamay noir originate from the second gene pool.
What makes chardonnay and riesling unique is that they carry genes from both events. Londo said this indicates that ancient viticulturalists crossed grapes between the two gene pools, which created some of today's most important cultivars.
Documenting the genetic markers for identifying male, female and perfect flower types will ultimately help speed cultivar development and reduce the costs of breeding programs.
“The more grape DNA markers are identified, the more breeders can advance the wine and grape industry,” said Bruce Reisch, co-author and professor in both the Horticulture and the Plant Breeding and Genetics sections of SIPS. “Modern genetic sequencing technologies and multi-institutional research collaborations are key to making better grapes available to growers.”
https:/
Co-authors on the paper also include Cheng Zou and Qi Sun at the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology; Melánie Massonnet, Andrea Minio and Dario Cantu at UC Davis; Lance Cadle-Davidson at the USDA-ARS Grape Genetics Unit; Victor Llaca at Corteva Agriscience; Avinash Karn and Fred Gouker in the Horticulture Section of SIPS; and Sagar Patel and Anne Fennell of South Dakota State University.
/figcaption>- Author: Ben Faber
Attention Farmers & Ranchers (to include all growers, ranchers, workers of the land, shepherds, cattle people, and farm advocates)!!!
There's a new group just for you being formed in Ventura County.
Join us for an evening of farmer focused conversation. There will be food and beverages, but you're welcome to bring your own! Meet your fellow farmers and connect with others who work in agriculture in our region.
The kick-off launch party will occur on Friday, June 11, 6pm - 8pm, at McGrath Family Farm in Camarillo.
The goal is to offer space for farmers to convene and conversate. While we might occasionally come into contact with each other at field days, events and meetings, it's also nice to have the opportunity to check-in with fellow growers.
Sign up HERE to register your spot.
The motivations for this occurrence build upon inspiration from the Lighthouse Farm Network, organized by CAFF starting in the early 1990s, where farmers would meet around meals to share ideas and strategies for sustainable production.
This type of farmer-focused organizing is nothing new in the [(tens of) thousands of] years of agriculture. In this country especially, farmers once were deeply involved in government and economy leadership.
*Cue* George Washington's words:
“Agriculture is the most Healthful, most Useful and most Noble Employment of Man.”
While our biggest obstacles may be seem different from what they have been in the past, today's challenges seem to be moving much faster, are in greater numbers, and are drastically more unforgiving in their devastation. As climates of all types (social, environmental and political) are rapidly shifting, it is important to recognize the varying qualities and values our region has to offer, as well as the obstacles and risks we have to face.
As keen observers to the rhythms and patterns of soil, plants, animals, weather, etc, farmers are often the first to notice small differences, and draw from real life experiences working every day in a world that is rapidly changing.
In addition to creating connections, these meetings also bring fresh perspective and new confidence for what can happen, creating opportunity for knowledge and experience to be shared.
So please RSVP by registering at the Eventbrite link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/farmer-friday-nights-tickets-153881241937
Be sure to bring your thoughts, your questions, and an open mind. This is for farmers, to be designed by farmers, so that farmers can connect and learn with/from each other.
If you cannot access the Eventbrite link, please email VenturaCountyFarmers@gmail.com to let us know you're coming or to inquire for further information.
Hope to see you soon!
- Author: Ben Faber
June 10
9-11
Mitigating Heat
Hear what happens to a tree under heat stress and what can
and is being done about it
Giulia Marino, UC Davis Tree Physiologist, How Heat Affects a Tree and What Options Are there to Reduce the Effect
Four Examples of Growers Modifying Overhead Irrigation to Affect Tree Heat – Grower Panel on Overhead Irrigation
Lisa Fyffe, Australian Consultant – How It's Done Down Under
Tune into the zoom: https://ucanr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kpus_GgWRPqAR4iVkDIEGw
photo: overhead cooling that works
- Author: Ben Faber
Trent Blare (tblare@ufl.edu), Assistant Professor in Food Resource Economics, University of Florida.
There has been growing hype around finger limes from citrus growers, the retail sector, and their customers. Growers are particularly interested in this market as disease pressure such as citrus greening and international competition have made other citrus and fruit markets less appealing. However, many are concerned that finger limes are just a fad and the markets will eventually crash as consumers move on to the next cool food trend. Our research at the University of Florida is examining these markets to determine the potential for growers in Florida and throughout the U.S. to take advantage of the emerging finger lime market.
Finger limes are known as the “citrus caviar,” because of their unique compressed, round juice vesicles that are distinct from other citrus crops' delicate, tear shaped fruit sacs. This feature combined with its bright colors and tangy flavor make finger limes a great garnish used in high end restaurants and as a perfect accent to a cocktail. As more and more chefs, bartenders, and suppliers in the hospitality industry become familiar with the fruit, they are falling in love with them and demand for finger limes is rapidly growing.
Figure 1. Finger lime plant (top – courtesy of Jeff Wasielewski, UF/IFAS) and fruit (bottom – courtesy of Cristina Carriz UF/IFAS).
Many growers and suppliers of finger limes are hopeful that the demand for this fruit will expand beyond the hospitality sector to mass markets, as consumers across the U.S. and around the world become more familiar with the fruit. Finger limes are not only resistant to greening that plagues orange and other citrus production but also have traditionally been grown using few agrochemical inputs (Singh et al. 2017). So, there are expectations that organic markets could provide an additional premium for this fruit. Some research has also pointed out the high prevalence of antioxidants in the fruit, providing finger lime growers and suppliers with potential to enter health food markets (Netzel et al. 2017).
This fruit, which is native to Australia, has only in the last several years become commercially available to growers across the US, after first having been cultivated in California in late 1960s (Singh et al. 2017). In fact, nearly all of the current production in the U.S. is in central and southern California and the big island of Hawaii. There are only about 15,000 trees, which are owned by less than a dozen growers (Karp 2009). So, there is room to expand production especially by Florida growers, who supply East Coast markets. Prices are quite elevated for the fruit; for instance, during the spring of 2020 finger limes were priced at $32 for 80 grams or 8 limes on Amazon or $18 for 9 to 10 finger limes from one of the only suppliers in South Florida. Questions remain whether these prices will remain elevated as more and more growers enter the market.
Over the next two years, we at the University of Florida will be exploring the potential for finger limes in these markets and how to develop inclusive supply chains to improve the participation of all growers in them. We will hold taste testing panels and interviews with suppliers, chefs, and bartenders at trade fairs to introduce them to the product, gauge their interest in the fruit, and estimate their willingness to pay for finger limes. The analysis of this research will allow us to estimate the potential demand of the fruit and how many growers could participate in this market. Additionally, we will examine the supply chain to determine which factors need to be addressed to improve growers' access to these growing markets. Please be on the lookout for further updates as we examine the potential growers to tap into growing finger lime markets and determine what can be done to sustain the demand for them.
Further reading:
Delort, E., & Yuan, Y. M. (2018). Finger lime/the Australian caviar—Citrus australasica. In Exotic Fruits, S. Rodrigues, E. de Oliveira Silva, & E. Sousa de Brit (eds). Academic Press, Cambridge, MA: 203-10.
Karp, D. (2009). Finger lime: The caviar of citrus. Los Angeles Times, 23. http://old.weshipproduce.com/shipping/122309lat.pdf
Netzel, M., Netzel, G., Tian, Q., Schwartz, S., & Konczak, I. (2007). Native Australian fruits—a novel source of antioxidants for food. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 8(3), 339-346
Rennie, S. (2017). Cultivation of Australian finger lime (Citrus australasica). In Australian Native Plants: Cultivation and Uses in the Health and Food Industries, Y. Sultanbawa & F. Sultanbawa (eds). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL: Chapter 7.
Scott, T. (2017). The caviar of citrus. California Bountiful Magazine. https://www.californiabountiful.com/features/article.aspx?arID=1967
Singh, A., Evans, E., Wasielewski, J., Dutt, M. & Grosser. J. (2017). Finger lime: An alternative crop with great potential in South Florida. EDIS 2017 https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FE/FE103300.pdf