- (Public Value) UCANR: Protecting California's natural resources
- 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: Caleb Crawford
- Author: Elizabeth J Fichtner
Scheduling irrigation events based on crop use allows growers to meet the water demands of crop production wile reducing both the risks of over- and underwatering. Together with improvement of irrigation system efficiency, the integration of the crop water use concept to irrigation scheduling may additionally aid growers in adhering to policies designed to conserve water.
UCCE has partnered with the Department of Water Resources (DMR) to generate weekly Etc reports for almond, pistachio, citrus, raison grapes, wine grapes, walnuts, and stone fruit. The Etc report is an estimate of the weekly soil moisture loss for each crop based on weather data gathered from CIMIS (California Irrigation Management Information System) stations. For the southern San Joaquin Valley, the report is based on data from the following six CIMIS stations: Merced, Parlier, Lemon Cove, Panoche, Five Points, and Stratford. For each crop, local UCCE farm advisors have monitored leaf out in the spring to make estimates of when to start the current irrigation season. Because leaf out may vary extensively by variety, the leaf out date estimates are selected at the approximate midpoint for a given crop. To use the Crop Water Use Report, select the crop of interest as well as the closest CIMIS station to the block in question to determine the approximate water use for the past week as well as the accumulated water use in the current season. Additionally, the report allows growers to estimate water use in irrigation systems with varying efficiencies, and to estimate the number of gallons applied per tree or vine over the prior week. Last, the Water Use Report provides an estimate of the next week's ETc based on an average from previous years.
The Crop Water Use Report is located on the UCCE Tulare County website (https://cetulare.ucanr.edu/) under the agriculture section in the Nut, Prune, and Olive Programs. It is also emailed out weekly from the UCCE Fresno County office. If you would like to be added to that electronic mailing list, please send an email to Mae Culumber (cmculumber@ucanr.edu).
The Etc reports provide valuable estimates of crop water use but are not a substitute for a grower's direct measurement of water stress using tools such as the pressure chamber. The water use report, however, does provide a “cheat sheet” for growers to use as a reference for their irrigation practices. Growers should consider local weather conditions, the exact leaf out dates of varieties under their management, the efficiencies of their irrigation systems, soil type, and historic water use and crop production information to customize irrigation practices at each site.
- Author: Elizabeth J Fichtner
- Author: Houston Wilson
Following a tip generated by citizen scientists in the Porterville/Tulare area, UC ANR researchers have installed traps to determine the potential for Velvet longhorned beetle, Trichoferus campestris (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), introduction to the southern San Joaquin Valley. The beetle, also called Mulberry longhorn beetle, is native to Asia and Russia, but now has an extended geographic range across Europe and North America. The pest is currently established in 4 counties in Utah, with cherries and peaches serving as hosts.
The Velvet longhorned beetle is not a serious pest in Asia and has only had a low impact on European timber and orchard production. The insect pest is of concern due to its potential to impact fruit yield and decrease tree longevity. It has been repeatedly intercepted at ports of entry in California; however, it is not known to be established in the state. Because the pest has a wide host range, affecting over 40 genera of broadleaf and coniferous plants, and is tolerant of dry conditions, researchers and regulators have initiated monitoring efforts for the pest. Locally, traps have been installed in dried plum and fresh prune orchards in Tulare County.
The Velvet longhorned beetle may serve as a pest of forests and orchards, and it has been moved internationally on wood packing material and in furniture and home décor. The adult beetle is large (around 1-2 cm), brown, has long antennae, and is nocturnal. Its peak mating activity is in June/July in Utah. Black Intercept Panel Traps were established in Tulare County in June and will be removed prior to prune harvest in September. 
