- Author: Whitney Brim-DeForest
- Author: Sean Hogan
- Author: Luis Espino
For the past several years, California rice has been dealing with a pesky new weed, weedy rice, aka “red” rice. Weedy rice is a difficult pest to manage, because it is the same species as rice (both are Oryza sativa L.), rendering herbicide use next-to-impossible. In the southern U.S, rice-growing region (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas), they utilize two rice varieties (in rotation) that have been conventionally bred to tolerate the use of two herbicides: Clearfield (imazamox) and Provisia (quizalofop). Since weedy rice is susceptible to these chemicals, the entire field can be sprayed with these herbicides: the rice varieties survive, and the weedy rice is controlled. In...
- Author: Travis M Bean
Proper weed management is important for several reasons, but in general younger orchards are much more susceptible to the negative impacts of weed overgrowth. The full canopies of mature orchards limit the amount of sunlight reaching the orchard floor, which suppresses the growth of many weed species. Younger trees also have less extensive rooting systems, putting them into direct competition with weeds for water and nutrients. The presence of weeds provides habitat for insects, pathogens, and rodents, which can affect trees of all ages through direct damage to vascular tissue and foliage, and as disease vectors.
Rank growth of weeds also visually obscures irrigation...
- Author: Vanessa Ashworth
- Author: Philippe Rolshausen
Advances in molecular tools already have led to the development of large numbers of genetic markers distributed across the avocado genome. These markers are being put to good use, many forming the basis for projects to inventory avocado germplasm repositories and, in our own case, to create a pathway toward marker-assisted selection.
Most recently, the first avocado genome was sequenced, marking the beginning of a new era. Genome annotation entails adding functional information about genes and other compartments of the genome, aided by comparisons with model organisms. The challenge is that the avocado occupies a highly divergent position on the evolutionary tree of life, close to such plants as laurel and magnolia,...
- Author: Ian Grettenberger
- Author: Luis Espino
Do you want to make sure your freshly planted rice fields don't look like the muddied mess on the left below (vs. clear on right) following a pyrethroid application? Wondering if your tadpole shrimp are becoming less susceptible to pyrethroids? We do too! Pyrethroids are widely used for managing resistance, and resistance seems to be a growing issue.
We are looking for additional fields where we can sample tadpole shrimp to test for pyrethroid resistance. We will be gathering soil/shrimp and then using these samples to run laboratory bioassays and measure susceptibility. The goal is to start measuring precisely how susceptible populations are in different fields. This will...
- Author: Car Mun Kok
Science literacy and youths' interest in science and science-related careers has been a focus in youth development. There has been a recent push by the California Department of Education to promote science literacy and engagement in youth, especially among girls. There has been interest in Mendocino County youth for more engagement in science activities but opportunities are lacking in a rural underserved county.
Through a partnership with schools and local youth organizations, Mendocino County 4-H program engaged in efforts to promote science literacy through the implementation of the Youth Experiences in Science (YES) program in afterschool sites. The Mendocino County 4-H...
