- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria has more than 180 million people. Located in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria produces crops such as cassava, maize, sorghum, rice, yams, cowpea, oil palm and groundnuts. Agriculture is important for the economy, employing about 30 percent of its population. Women play a primary role in producing the staple crops.
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources program assistant Maria Alfaro, part of the Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, got to see first-hand the role of women in Nigerian agriculture. As part of a three-week...
The South Asian country of Bangladesh, bordered on three sides by India, contains more than 22 million acres of agricultural land, with the No. 1 crop being rice. The average farm size is one acre or less, and each farm produces about 4,000 pounds of rice per year.
Vonny Barlow, a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) entomology expert and affiliated advisor with UC ANR's Statewide Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program, traveled to Bangladesh in September to instruct pesticide dealers, pesticide retailers, rice farmers and other growers in...
The importance of pollinators – such as bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds – is becoming more widely known. Bees pollinate approximately 35 percent of the food we eat. Pollinators as a whole are worth about $15 billion to the agricultural industry.
Honey bees are important, yet they are declining. Besides issues such as habitat loss and disease, pest management methods can also contribute to population loss. Pesticides used to kill insects, plant pathogens and weeds can leave residues that kill bees and other natural enemies. Residues can linger in pollen and nectar, and pollinators moving into an area after...
- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
Pesticide resistance is not a new subject, and researchers have been working for years on how to manage the problem. Resistance develops when the same type of pesticide is used repeatedly and frequently to control a pest. Every pest population contains individuals that vary genetically in some way; some vary in their susceptibility to being killed by a particular pesticide.
When a pesticide is applied, some individual insects or weeds are killed and others are not. The individuals that are not killed vary genetically from the ones that were killed, and when they reproduce, their offspring are also likely not to be susceptible to the pesticide. Over time, the population...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The insecticide chlorpyrifos is a critically important tool for California producers of alfalfa, almonds, citrus and cotton, according to a comprehensive report coordinated by the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. As part of an action plan, the report identifies specific research, extension and policy gaps that should be addressed to ensure safe, effective use of the insecticide.
The report, Identifying and Managing Critical Uses of Chlorpyrifos in Alfalfa, Almonds, Citrus and Cotton, was commissioned by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) earlier this year and...