Topics in Subtropics

I was in a citrus orchard in San Diego recently with some colleagues, looking for sap-sucking hemipterans to run an experiment. I kept getting distracted, however, by some small flies. They were shiny, bright yellow with black stripes, like a miniature, polished hoverfly. Every tree I inspected in this…

Avocado pollination is a little-understood process influenced by flower biology, environmental conditions, and pollinator behavior. Our study from UC Cooperative Extension and UC Davis aims to shed light on the complexity of avocado pollination and the role of various insect species in enhancing fruit set…

The registration label for Sivano use against Pink Hibiscus Mealybug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)) was approved by DPR last year.  The label can be found at the following link, with dates listed on page 18:https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/agrian-cg-fs1-production/pdfs/Sivanto…

Transition to Organic Webinar SeriesWednesdays • January 14 – March 18, 2026 • Free virtual seriesHosted by CAFF, UC Organic Agriculture Institute (UC OAI), and UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE)Thinking about transitioning your crop operation to organic? Join us for a ten-week webinar series designed to guide…

I ‘ve often heard it said that it’s the soil that makes these two counties so appropriate for agriculture. Well, there are some pretty terrible soils here, as well as wonderful ones. The USDA has a classification for soils that describes all soils in the world. It’s based mainly on the rock it is formed from…