Topics in Subtropics

I recently traveled to the Malaga area of Spain where there is quite a bit of new planting going on. The industry celebrated its industry in 2002 with the World Avocado Congress and we saw a considerable expansion of the industry then and more has occurred since then.

The latest (2012) Department of Agriculture reports on county agricultural production can be found at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/California/Publications/AgComm/201212cactb00.

In a mandarin orchard today, I saw what appeared to be sun burn damage. The bark was missing on the top, south facing branches. It was old damage and was healing over along the edges. I mentioned it to the grower who told me it was roof rat damage.

The white sapote is a relative of citrus. However, it is too distant botanically for the fruit to resemble, be graft compatible, or hybridize with citrus.

With the proliferation of pests and disease that might appear in mulch used in orchards, it might appear that the practice will become more limited unless the material can be guaranteed to be safe.