- Author: Elizabeth J Fichtner
- Author: Katherine Mae Culumber
- Translator: Charlotte Burks
Usted ha notado que enteros cultivos maduros se han reducido a montones de astillas en solo días? Lo que estás viendo se llama “reciclo de cultivos enteros”, y es un método de facilitar la descomposicion de la tierra y preservar la calidad del aire en el valle central de California.
El paisaje del condado de Tulare ha cambiado dramáticamente por la eliminación de los cultivos. Las nueces que están desapareciendo son especialmente importantes en esta área porque las nueces son los originales cultivos de nueces de Tulare County,con plantaciones o apareciendo en la década del 1930. Varios factores han contribuido a la eliminación de cultivo de nueces en la región, incluyendo un cambio drastico en precios de frutos secos , ()especialmente nueces , y la imposición de regulaciones del uso de agua subterránea. Las economías de producción de nueces han sido impactadas en una manera negativa por disputas de comercio, nuevos competidores internacionales en producción de nueces , huelgas en los puertos, y más recientemente, la calidad pobre de la cosecha de 2022, una consecuencia probablemente de la ola de calor tarde en el verano antes de cosechar. Finalmente, muchas áreas históricas de crecimiento de nueces, referidas como “tierras blancas”, son parte de áreas no cubiertas por distritos de irrigación agricultural, donde la irrigación es creada solo desde sacar agua de la tierra. Regulaciones recientes impuestas en sacar agua subterránea han necesitado la eliminación de cultivos permanentes en parte de estos acres.
Cuando un cultivo ha llegado al fin de la parte de su vida en que es económicamente productiva, productores se encuentran con el trabajo de disponer del biomass de astillas. Históricamente, los árboles se empujaban y quemaban; pero quemar varios árboles daña la calidad del aire en la región. Adicionalmente, quemando inmediatamente suelta cenizas a la tierra llenas de nutrientes y guardaban carbono en el aire como dióxido de carbono, un gas de invernadero. Reciclar enteros cultivos deja que una porción significante del carbono producido en fotosíntesis durante la vida del cultivo sea devuelto a la tierra en lugar de perderlo en el ambiente. Además, los nutrientes guardados dentro de los biomas son gradualmente soltados a la tierra mientras las astillas se descomponen, contribuyendo a las necesidades de los próximos cultivos.
Reciclar enteros cultivos se cumple por cortar los biomas de astillas y extender lo que queda por todo el área del cultivo. Las astillas, aún más pequeñas, se incorporan a la primera capa de tierra, donde la tierra microbial procesa las astillas. Mientras mueren las microbacterias, los nutrientes quedan guardados dentro de los biomas (los cuerpos de millones de bacterias y fungos) y son retornadas a la tierra. Después del reciclaje de cultivos enteros, la tierra se puede dejar en un periodo no reproductivo , o puede ser replantado con cultivos continuos o anuales, dependiendo en el mercado y en cuánta agua hay disponible. Aunque el paisaje local está cambiando dramáticamente, nosotros podemos apreciar que los productores están asegurando que los beneficios de subproductos agrícolas no son perdidos desde el sistema local agronomo, y que podemos esperar observar las futuras fases del uso de la tierra en nuestra región.
foto: Enteros cultivos son reciclados por cortar las astillas biomas e incorporar el prod
ucto de esto a la primera capa de la tierra, un proceso llamado reciclo de cultivo entero.
- Author: Elizabeth J Fichtner
Visalia students at Linwood Elementary were introduced to prunes as a local crop and a nutritious snack during today's “Try it Tuesday” event hosted by teachers, Julie Cates and Bethany Gonzales. Elizabeth Fichtner, UCCE Tulare County Farm Advisor, visited 1st and 6th grade classes with a prepared talk on the culture of prunes followed by a tasting. Students were taught about prune cultivation, harvest technology, and post-harvest processes from transportation to dehydration.
Sixth grade students were paired with their first-grade buddies for a tasting in concert with learning fun facts about the factors contributing to the sweetness of prunes as well as secondary uses of the fruit in the commercial food industry.
Prunes are an important specialty crop in Tulare County valued at over $15.3 million (Tulare County Ag Commissioner Crop Reports, 2021). Currently, Tulare County has just over 2,500 acres of prunes in the ground.
- Author: Elizabeth J Fichtner
- Author: Noelia Silva Del Rio
The dairy and nut industries are dominant contributors to Tulare County's agricultural economy, with milk consistently ranking as the highest valued ag product, followed close behind by pistachio and almond in the top 10. The dairy industry provides economic value to a biproduct of the almond industry-- almond hulls. Almond hulls are incorporated in the herd diet, thus reducing the quantity of forage required for feed in a region sustaining a multi-year drought. This practice increases the water use efficiency of both the dairy and orchard systems.
In October 2022, the UCCE Tulare County Orchard Systems Program, led by Dr. Elizabeth Fichtner, provided an opportunity for cross-disciplinary dialogue between the animal science and plant science communities. Dairy researchers from across the United States visited Tulare County as part of a USDA-funded research team focusing on the economic and environmental sustainability of dairy enterprises. The team was hosted by Dr. Noelia Silva del Rio, UC ANR Dairy Herd Health Specialist, at the UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Research and Extension Center in Tulare, CA. The group had the opportunity to visit a commercial walnut orchard during harvest operations, using the field site as a platform for discussion of cross-disciplinary topics including nutrient management, food safety, composting protocols, and water use efficiency. Additionally, dairy researchers observed the extensive damage on walnut trees caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, an organism familiar to all scientists for its role in revolutionizing molecular biology, but infamous to walnut growers and plant pathologists as a bacterial plant pathogen causing crown gall.
- Author: Elizabeth J Fichtner
Pandemic-related school closures left our school gardens underutilized and limited students' opportunities for hands-on science projects that typically promote AG literacy in K-12 education. To mitigate the loss of these valuable educational opportunities, the Tulare County Farm Bureau (TCFB) actively engaged local teachers to bring agricultural concepts to the virtual classroom by unveiling a competitive grant program open to Tulare County teachers. Each sponsored project received support of up to $500 to integrate AG literacy programming into virtual classrooms.
Utilizing TCFB financial support and leveraging support from our UCCE Tulare County office, Mrs. Honley and I collaborated to deliver two AG education projects integrating with the third-grade science curriculum. In November 2020, 90 kits were distributed to parents and guardians at a supply distribution event. Students from three classes attended a Zoom lecture and question and answer session on cloning and its use in agricultural systems, including production of several commodities in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Students were instructed on the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction in plants, and the role of cloning in producing homogeneous crops with select, desirable attributes. Additionally, the lesson covered modern advances in animal cloning, including the cloning of both dairy cattle and horses. Students learned of implementation of cloning to replicate severely endangered animals, particularly when the last known individual faces mortality, a precursor to extinction. Each student propagated succulents and shared the growth progress via Class Dojo, an app facilitating communication between students, teachers, and parents. After a return to the socially-distanced classroom, a second program in Spring 2021 focused on discussion of the center of origin of crop plants grown and consumed in the United States and the southern San Joaquin Valley. Students propagated potatoes from seed potatoes and were exposed to the genetic diversity among potato varieties. Mrs. Lori Irvine, the Linwood Garden Club leader also planted seed potatoes in the Linwood Elementary garden, allowing students to follow the plants' growth and development from planting to harvest.
Public service is one of the five components of an advisor's program in the UCCE system. The TCFB's support for distance education during this challenging academic year fostered the initiation of a new public service opportunity benefiting our local community. It has been a pleasure to work with Mrs. Honley and Linwood's third grade students on this TCFB-supported program.
