- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Steven Koike, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Monterey County, has received the 2013 Excellence in Extension Award by the American Phytopathological Society, reported the Salinas Californian in a lengthy profile article written by D.L. Taylor.
Koike is considered by his grower clients as a problem solver who identifies new plant diseases and controls outbreaks. He is the primary resource person for coastal plant pathology issues.
“Steve’s program provides another service to the university: it is an academic model for outstanding...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner, the University of California Cooperative Extension, the Leafy Greens Research Commission, and growers and seed companies are pooling resources to bring a state-of-the-art environmental chamber to the laboratories at the Monterey County Agricultural Center in Salinas, according to the Salinas Californian.
Steven Koike, UCCE advisor in Monterey County, said the chamber "will allow us to ramp up research.” The new acquisition is something like a large refrigerator in which researchers can control temperature and...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Salinas Californian reporter Andy Stiny wrote a story on the 5th anniversary of the E. coli outbreak in spinach grown in San Benito County. He reported that Steve Koike, plant pathology farm advisor for Monterey County, said California's spinach industry is rebounding from the setback. Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli, executive director for the Center for Produce Safety at UC Davis, is quoted as saying, "A lot of research is going into all...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC scientists in the Salinas Valley are trying to figure out why certain varieties of lettuce became susceptible in the 1990s to the fungus that causes verticillium wilt and how the fungus is getting into the soil.
"This is one of the more important diseases facing growers in the county," the Salinas Californian quoted UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Steve Koike. "It has a significant impact and is increasing each year."
Strawberry crops have long suffered from the disease, but lettuce was immune. Strawberry...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Last Saturday night, the CBS Evening News aired a six-minute special report on food safety. The research component for the story featured an appearance by UC Davis Cooperative Extension food safety specialist Linda Harris, in which she explained work underway to understand the potential food safety impact of irrigation practices on leafy green vegetables.
Reporter Bill Witaker noted that cutting edge research is being conducted around the country to find out how pathogens make it onto fresh produce and how to reduce the risk. He used the UC Davis