- Author: Ben Faber
Avocado Irrigation Workshop
July 18 (Tuesday), 2023
1:00 - 4:00 P.M.
In Person
United Water Conservation District
1701 Lombard St Ste 200, Oxnard, CA 93030
AGENDA
1:00 Welcome
1:05 Drought and Heat Effects on Avocado – Dr. Ben Faber, UCCE Subtropical Crops Advisor,
Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties
1:35 Challenges due to climate change and tools and resources to manage risks - Dr. Tapan Pathak,CE Specialist in Climate Adaptation in Agriculture, University of California, Merced
2:05 Tools and Information for Effective Irrigation Management in California Avocados – Dr. Ali Montazar, UCCE Irrigation and Water Management Advisor, San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside
Counties
2:35 Strategies in Managing Salinity in Avocado Production – Dr. Peggy Mauk, Director of Agricultural Operations and Professor of Extension, University of California, Riverside
3:05 Water Cost in High Density Avocado Planting and Profitability – Etaferahu Takele, UCCE Area Farm Management/Agricultural Economist in Southern California, San Bernardino
3:35 Ventura County RCD Irrigation & Nutrient Management Programs and Projects – JamieWhiteford, Ventura County Resource Conservation District, Ventura
4:00 ADJOURN
For more information about the workshop, please contact
Ali Montazar, amontazar@ucanr.edu
or Ben Faber, bafaber@ucanr.edu.
PENDING CEU CREDITS:
VCAILG (3 hrs.)
- Author: Ben Faber
A note from Kern County Entomology Advisor David Haviland, We are forewarned. The hills are drying up and after this rain, there could be a tide of False Chinch Bugs coming out of the hills. I remember in 2005(?) after the rains they were crawling everywhere and young avocado trees were getting hit pretty badly, requiring sprays certainly along orchard perimieters,
We get FCB every year in the south Valley and there are definitely two weather-related correlations. First, more rain equals more weeds equals more false chinch bugs. But also, weather effects drydown that affects the longevity of the migration event. In cool springs like we are having, vegetation tends to dry slowly and the migrations out of pastures and other weedy areas can last over a month. In years where we get blasted with 100 degrees in May, things dry down quickly, we get a massive wave of bugs, but then they go away quickly. The most fun is when somebody decides to disk up a heavily infested area, all the weeds dry at once, and the migration is a massive pulse. I'm not sure what will happen this year. We had over 10 inches of rain (more than twice the normal) in the south Valley and there is lots of vegetation out there, but then earlier this week we got about 0.25 inches of rain from the freak low-pressure system that lit up our skies with lightning on Monday and Tuesday. A lot of the vegetation out there is going to be able to hang on a little longer. I'm thinking that the false chinch bug call Siavash received will be the first of many that we get up and down the state this year.
As a side-note, in production ag, our biggest issues are when migrations get into young almond or pistachio orchards. They definitely kill young trees due to the toxin they inject. I've seen them also do some pretty good damage to cotton, beans, and tomatoes, but it is usually only a few rows on the edge. For homeowners is mainly just a nuisance, but it is hard to tell a homeowner not to worry about the thousands of bugs crawling all over their house.
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/avocado/false-chinch-bug/
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/avocado/false-chinch-bug/
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=43865
- Author: Ben Faber
More details from the World Avocado Congress
Stream HAB's latest webinar NOW
Hass Avocado Board (HAB) leadership presented U.S. progress on key strategic priorities to an international audience representing 33 countries at the 10th World Avocado Congress (WAC) recently held in New Zealand. This event gathers avocado producers, researchers, marketers and other stakeholders from around the world every four years for the purpose of information sharing and relationship building. Across four days, HAB staff exchanged knowledge with over 1,160 delegates to help strengthen the collective global power of the avocado industry.
HAB's programs are recognized as a model to watch and learn from based on results accelerating demand growth in the U.S. With the global avocado market tackling many challenges as well as opportunities as it tracks to nearly double in value by 2026,1 attendees appreciated U.S. program updates as well as informative examples of how the pooling of resources by HAB empowers the industry to do things they wouldn't be able to do otherwise, i.e. the HAB Effect in action.
Watch on-demand Global Trends Fresh from World Avocado Congress: Discover the Top Areas of Focus, a webinar featuring key learnings and highlights from HAB panelists: Emiliano Escobedo, John McGuigan, Alejandro Gavito, Gina Widjaja, Nikki Ford, PhD.
This is the second webinar of HAB's 2023 on-demand webinar series to support industry members in making better business decisions and driving category growth more effectively.
Source: 1. Statista, Global Avocado Market Value Report, February 2023
https://hassavocadoboard.com/happenings/streaming-webinar-highlights-key-takeaways-from-world-avocado-congress/
- Author: Ben Faber
Meeting Announcement. The release of Luna UCR™ (‘BL516')
Eurosemillas (Green Motion) has organized an in-person meeting to announce the release of the “B” Hass-like variety Luna UCR™ (BL516) for Tuesday, June 20 from 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. The meeting will be held at the UCCE Ventura County Extension Office at 699 County Square Drive, Ventura. A tour to Brokaw Nursery to view Luna UCR™ trees will be held following the meeting. The meeting is open to all interested parties. For further information or to RSVP for the meeting contact Santiago Suris Salsas at ssuris@eurosemillas.com.
The University of California, Riverside's (UCR's) avocado scion breeding program began in the 1950's and continues today under the guidance of Dr. Mary Lu Arpaia, Professor of Extension, Subtropical Horticulture. It has been a model avocado varietal breeding program worldwide and maintains one of the largest avocado germplasm collections in the world. UCR has patented and released eight new scion varieties since the 1980's, most notably, ‘3-29-5' (often referred to as “GEM”) in 2003 and ‘Lamb Hass' in 1996.
UCR will officially release the ‘BL516' avocado scion cultivar in June 2023, the second avocado cultivar released by UCR in the last twenty years. With its slender upright growth habit, ‘BL516' offers avocado growers a next generation tree better adapted to the increasingly popular high-density plantings . It is a “B” flower type so it can serve as a pollinizer variety for ‘Hass', '3-29-5' and other type “A” flower varieties. It matures slightly later than ‘Hass' and during ripening, the fruit turns from an emerald green color to glossy black, similar to ‘Hass' and in line with current consumer preferences, according to Arpaia.
'BL516' is pending protection in the United States for US Plant Patent and Plant Variety Protection (PVP). Luna UCR™ is the trademark and brand used in commerce associated with this promising variety. 'BL516' was developed at UCR by Gray Martin, B.O. “Bob” Bergh, David Stottlemyer, Eric Focht, and Mary Lu Arpaia.
'BL516' avocados - unripe vs ripe.
In 2020, UCR partnered with Eurosemillas, S.A. to sponsor the UCR avocado breeding programs to help the university deliver the most promising and advanced avocado scions and rootstocks in its collection to market. ‘BL516' is the first scion cultivar to be released under this partnership. As the worldwide master licensee of 'BL516', Eurosemillas is positioned to lead the global commercialization of the variety, under Green Motion, an international platform established to accelerate the commercialization of UCR's most promising and advanced avocado scions and rootstocks cultivars with partners in 15 countries.
Support for UCR's avocado scion breeding program from the California avocado industry via the California Avocado Commission (CAC) dates to the 1950's and has provided millions of dollars in the scion breeding efforts through 2016. Keeping this in mind, California growers will receive a reduction in royalties paid for planting and production of ‘BL516', giving them an advantage over international avocado growers. Furthermore, all eligible California growers will be granted a sublicense upon request and agreement of a sublicense from Eurosemillas, ensuring widespread availability of ‘BL516' within the State.
Looking ahead, UCR's avocado breeding program remains committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation. With ongoing research efforts and the Green Motion platform, UCR aims to streamline the commercialization process for its avocados, ensuring that future varieties continue to captivate markets and consumers alike.
For more information: ucrotp.ucr.edu
- Author: Ben Faber
DPR funds educational resources to increase the adoption of reduced-risk, sustainable pest management practices for farmersAs part of DPR's goal to accelerate the transition to safer, more sustainable pest management and fulfill its mission to foster reduced-risk pest management, DPR has funded a project with Wild Farm Alliance (WFA) to provide educational resources for farmers to encourage the use of beneficial birds for pest control. When beneficial birds are supported, they can sustainably reduce pest insects and rodents that cause crop damage. Wild Farm Alliance created two free Continuing Education Courses about supporting avian pest control. The courses are online and can be taken any time throughout the year. These courses are approved for CE credit through DPR. Habitat on Farms Support Avian Pest Control Services (4 CE Units) Participants will learn about research that shows the benefits of installing habitat in and around farms to attract beneficial birds that provide valuable pest control services. Nest Boxes and Perches on Farms Support Avian Pest Control Services (3 CE Units) Participants will learn about the research showing the benefits to the farm of installing Western Bluebird and other songbird nest boxes, Barn Owl and American Kestrel boxes, and songbird and raptor perches to gain these birds' valuable pest control services. DPR's Integrated Pest Management Branch is supporting the use of sustainable pest management strategies in our state in a variety of ways, including funding these educational courses on beneficial birds for Pest Control Advisors and pesticide applicator license and certificate holders. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CADPR/bulletins/35b24c1
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