- Author: Ben Faber
New technique has potential
to protect citrus from HLB
Citrus greening, also called Huanglongbing (HLB), is devastating the citrus industry. Florida alone has experienced a 50 to 75 percent reduction in citrus production. There are no resistant varieties of citrus available and limited disease control measures.
Some scientists think it is possible that orange juice could one day become as expensive and rare as caviar. In an effort to prevent this, three plant pathologists at the University of California-Berkeley and United States Department of Agriculture conducted research into ways to boost citrus immunity and protect the valuable fruit against citrus greening.
Because the bacteria that causes citrus greening cannot be grown in a lab, scientists have to find novel ways to conduct experiments. The University of California-Berkeley/USDA team looked at many different strains of the bacteria that cause citrus greening to see if they could identify peptides (a compound of two or more amino acids) that would trigger immune responses.
"This was a long list, so we narrowed it down by selecting small peptides that were a bit different in their peptide sequence, which might imply that the bacterium had made those sequence changes so that they wouldn't be recognized by the plant immune system," explained Jennifer D. Lewis, group leader of the research team. "Then we further narrowed that list to peptides from strains that caused disease in citrus."
Through this research, they showed that two peptides could trigger immune responses in multiple plant species, including citrus. These peptides may play a role in preventing or reducing yield loss from citrus greening.
According to Lewis, "We thought it was particularly interesting that some of the peptides predicted to elicit a response, could actually trigger immune responses in multiple plant species. This suggests that the immune response to these peptides is conserved across species."
/h1>/h1>- Author: Ben Faber
The University of California has put together a series of publications on addressing COVID-19 in the home and the workplace. They can be found at: COVID-19 Guidelines
The individual articles are below:
Preventing Spread of COVID-19 in Households
Safety Gyuidelines in Agriculture During COVID-19
Food Safety Guidelines for COVID-19
Filing for Supplemental Pay During ShutDown
Take Care and Stay well.
And from CDFA:
Coronavirus Resources for Food and Agriculture page
BEST PRACTICES GUIDELINES
Food producers and manufacturers have been required by longstanding federal and state laws and regulations to prevent anyone who is sick or has a communicable disease from handling, processing or preparing food for human consumption. Thus, industries handling food and agricultural commodities are well practiced at this important and general principle of food safety and hygiene. It is important to follow recommendations as set forth by the CDC as well as those outlined below:
- Maintain diligence in good hygiene, monitor for employee illness, and adhere to social distancing guidelines as possible.
- Adhere to your Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP), ensuring that those supervising staff and operations are vigilant in their oversight.
- Ensure adequate frequency of cleaning and sanitizing per CDC Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection guidance.
- Adhere to cleaning and sanitizing frequency of restroom and other high contact areas.
- Consider ways for employees to easily identify themselves (business card, company ID badge) outside of business operations for ease in transportation to and from work while adhering to local ordinances.
According to both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) there is currently no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food or food packaging. The CDC is also reporting that, in general, because of poor survivability of the coronavirus on surfaces, there is likely a very low risk of spread from food products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient, refrigerated, or frozen temperatures.
Labor is a vital component to the food supply, from farm to fork. California has among the highest standards for food safety, which includes worker health and hygiene standards supported by labor laws that are very specific about paid sick leave for those individuals that may be affected by COVID-19 and unable to work.
Transportation: Governor Newsom's Executive Order on transportation “to allow timely delivery of vital goods” is also an important part of this discussion.
For additional information and FAQs please visit:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.16.20_coronavirus-guidance_8.5x11_315PM.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/businesses-employers.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.htmlhttps://www.usda.gov/coronavirus
Photo: San Luis Obispo landscape
- Author: Ben Faber
U.S. demand for avocados has increased steadily over the past two decades: per capita consumption of avocados has tripled since 2001 to 8 pounds per person in 2018. Total U.S. production in 2018 was 364 million pounds, with California the major producer, accounting for 93 percent of U.S. avocado output in that year.
U.S. acreage has declined over time, and production volume can vary between years. To support year-round demand, the United States imports avocados. In 2007, Mexico overtook Chile as the dominant supplier, and by 2018 accounted for 89 percent of fresh avocado imports. While Mexico sells avocados to the United States every month of the year, shipments are lower during the summer. In 2018, Peru was the second largest source of imports, and shipments increase during the summer.
Although U.S. avocado production has dropped since 2001, growing demand has benefited domestic producers through higher prices. For example, the price received by California growers in 2018 is up 22 percent from 2011. Since avocados can mature on the tree for an extended period, U.S. growers look for opportunities when fruit quality is at its peak and market conditions are optimal to harvest and ship to domestic and export markets. The chart is based on Fruit and Tree Nut Yearbook Data released in October 2019.
For more information:
Jaclyn Kramer
USDA ERS
Tel: +1 (816) 926-6007
Email: Jaclyn.Kramer@usda.gov
www.ers.usda.gov
- Author: Sonja Brodt
Assessing the Potential of Elderberry as a California Specialty Crop
Can plants typically grown in hedgerows also be a source of income? That's the question guiding a UC study on the potential for farmers to grow elderberries as a commercial crop - https://elderberry.ucdavis.edu
Native hedgerows on farm edges benefit wildlife, pest control, carbon storage and runoff, but hedgerow planting by farmers in California is limited, often due to establishment and maintenance costs. What if hedgerows could provide a source of farm income, to offset costs?
California's native blue elderberries have long been a traditional food product of California native tribes, and are already often planted in hedgerows. They grow vigorously in a wide range of conditions from valley to mountains, with strong potential to adapt to a changing climate and growing water constraints. In the meantime, with growing consumer interest in health foods, nationwide elderberry product sales doubled from 2017 to 2018, for a total of $75 million (HerbalGram Market Report), but almost no commercial supply originates in California.
The UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program is collaborating with Cloverleaf Farm in Solano County and other farms to assess the potential for elderberries to become a commercial specialty crop, with a focus on hedgerow-grown elderberry production and marketing for small- and mid-scale farms.
Highlights from the project:
- Mature elderberry trees in unirrigated hedgerows in the Sacramento Valley can yield from 40 - 170 lbs berries/tree among the lower, reachablebranches
- We conservatively estimate potential net annual income from sales of destemmed elderberries in the range of atleast
$4,000-$9,000 per 1,000 linear feet for an unirrigated multi-species hedgerow, a figure that could grow substantially under labor-saving mechanized de-stemming
- A survey of California retailers and herbalists revealed strong interest in California-grown elderberries and elderflowers, and in organic and sustainably-grownproducts.
- Food chemistry analysis of native blue elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea) showed levels of desirablephenoliccompounds,suchasanthocyanin,similartothoseinthemorecommonlysold European black elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp.nigra).
Funding for this project was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant AM170100XXXXG011. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA
- Author: Linda Forbes
UC ANR is still working for Californians
Employees are working remotely during normal business hours
DAVIS, Calif. — UC Agriculture and Natural Resources is available to assist Californians across the state during the new coronavirus crisis. We are working differently, but we are still working to help residents improve their lives and businesses with resources on growing food in a garden, preserving food, entertaining kids with educational activities and many other useful topics at ucanr.edu.
We are finding opportunities to make life easier for communities. For example, in Sonoma County, UC Cooperative Extension developed an online Food Distribution Directory with CropMobster. “By changing our relationship to food waste, we can use excess, high quality food to feed people in need,” said Stephanie Larson, UC Cooperative Extension director for Sonoma County. For more information visit https://maps.cropmobster.com/food-distribution-directory/ and https://ucanr.edu/sites/SCRFC.
UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture Community Education Specialists are assisting growers in applying for cost-share funds from CDFA's Climate Smart Agriculture programs, helping with filing paperwork with CDFA and implementing the cost-shared Climate Smart Agriculture practices. All of our technical assistance providers are currently working remotely and available via email, telephone, Zoom and other virtual communications technologies.
The University of California is vigilantly monitoring and responding to new information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which has been declared a global health emergency. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources employees are working remotely during their normal business hours and performing essential duties such as feeding animals, protective measures that align with COVID-19 guidance from public health officials and the UC Office of the President. This status will be in effect through April 7, 2020, and may be extended.
We are also mindful of official guidance concerning social distancing; all in-person events will be cancelled, postponed or conducted by Zoom through April 7 or until the guidance is modified. This includes all volunteer-led youth or adult programming, meetings or gatherings. Visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/PSU/ or contact your local UC Cooperative Extension office for information on event status.
Again, we are working and available. UC ANR is maintaining critical research projects and delivering programs online. We are exploring innovative ways to connect with the public using technology and working with our partners. UC ANR employees can be reached as normal through email or Zoom video conferencing.
Useful information is available at the following links.
- 4-H Youth Development Program
- Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program
- UC Master Food Preserver Program
- UC Master Gardener Program
Find your local UC Cooperative Extension office contact information here.
Additional information from our programs may be found at:
- Agricultural Issues Center
- California Institute for Water Resources
- California Naturalist Program
- CalFresh Healthy Living, UC
- Informatics and GIS Program
- Nutrition Policy Institute
- Research and Extension Center System
- Research and Information Centers
- Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM)
- Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP)
We also encourage members of the public to subscribe to our YouTube channels and follow our social media platforms:
- UC ANR (English)
- UC ANR (Spanish)
- Master Gardener Program
- Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM)
We look forward to seeing you online for the present time. What else can we do to help you? Send your suggestions to Linda Forbes, director of UC ANR Strategic Communications, at lforbes@ucanr.edu.
— UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
/h2>/h1>