- Author: Brad Hanson
I was sent a short article from Science this week that discussed the impact of biotech crops on organic farms. The article is entitled "Can Biotech and Organic Farmers Get Along?" discusses issues with the science and politics surrounding GMO crops and gene flow to organic crops.
Science (online at www.sciencemag.org) is not open access so I can't post the pdf here. However, non-subscribers can read a summary and listen to a podcast interveiw with the author, Erik Stokstad, at this link (if you are at an institution that subscribes to Science, you can get the full article too). I think the podcast interview is interesting and a good presentation of...
- Author: Brad Hanson
We commonly select for specific weeds in agricultural systems because of the neccessary managment practices. Cultivation, fertilization, irrigation, weed management, etc all can affect the weeds in a given field. Some weeds prosper under high fertility, high disturbance, and regular irrigation and tend to be very common in ag fields. Other species do not do as well in those conditions and are found in roadsides, field margins, or non crop areas.
Similar issues can occur with our selection of ornamental plants. Some plants are values as ornamental plants becasue they are very adaptable and easy to grow, can escape cultivation and become weedy in various ecosystems. Here is a link to an article in a magazine called High...
- Author: Gale Perez
Register for Weed Day 2011
July 14, 2011 :: UC Davis
(Visit http://wric.ucdavis.edu and click on Weed Day)
Be a Weed Day sponsor (click here.)
UC Weed Research & Information Center (WeedRIC) :: Phone: (530) 752-1748 :: Fax: (530) 752-4604 :: http://wric.ucdavis.edu
- Author: Brad Hanson
Yesterday, I attended the Southern San Joaquin Valley Olive Day organized by UC Cooperative Extension orchard systems farm advisor, Elizabeth Fichtner (UCCE Tulare Co). She organized a nice half-day program that included presentations on weeds (from yours truly), olive disease problems, insect pests, irrigation, fertility, and economics. Industry representatives also gave updates on the state of the table olive and olive oil industries. Elizabeth is planning to post most of those presentations on the Tulare Co page (see link above) for those who weren't able to attend the meeting.
My presentation from the meeting are below and included both general orchard weed issues as...
- Author: Brad Hanson
I visited a couple of almond orchard trials this week and thought I'd share a few photos.
First, I ran across a weed that I haven't encountered before - alkali mallow (Malvella leprosa). This weed is also known as: alkali sida, creeping mallow, dollar weed, ivy-leaf sida, star mallow, white mallow, and whiteweed.
When I first saw the weed emerging in these plots, I thought it was one of the annual mallows commonly found in orchards such as common mallow, bull mallow, little mallow or high mallow (Malva neglecta, M nicaeensis, M. parviflora, and M. sylvestris, respectively). In contrast to those more familiar weeds, alkali mallow is a perennial plant that has a deep and extensive system of...
