- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Rising demand for Asian vegetables in urban areas of California is creating an improved market for produce grown by the San Joaquin Valley's Asian farmers, reported Yu Wei in the San Francisco-based China Daily.
Richard Molinar, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Fresno County, told the reporter that demand is driving increased cultivation of Asian vegetables in Fresno County.
"We have around 50 to 75 Chinese farmers here in Fresno County and over 2,000 acres of Chinese crops selling locally as well as nationwide," Molinar said.
The article noted that UC Cooperative Extension offers advice...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A mysterious sudden crippling or death of pomegranate trees may be due to cold temperatures, said a story in Western Farm Press.
Three farmers and Themis Michiliades, UC Davis plant pathologist based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, agreed that low temperatures have a lot to do with the problem. Michailides cited an Iranian research paper that showed similar cold snap damage. Michailides and Richard Molinar, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Fresno County, said damage from dieback this year was more...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The annual Blueberry Open House at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center last month warranted lengthy coverage by Western Farm Press.
Freelance writer Dennis Pollock reported that Manuel Jimenez, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Tulare County, a small-scale farming expert, walked among the mature blueberry plants at Kearney, describing their good points and bad points.
"The perfect blueberry would be one that is big, firm, sweet, easy to harvest and grows in high pH (soil conditions)," he said.
At the event, Richard...
- Author: Brenda Dawson
UC strawberry varieties — Chandler in particular — was the topic of a Los Angeles Times article by David Karp.
According to the article, Chandler was introduced in 1983 and was dominant in Southern California production in the late '80s and early '90s, before being surpassed by other varieties. Chandler was bred by Victor Voth and Royce Bringhurst of the University of California.
This year, a well-known strawberry grower among Southern California farmers markets has resumed growing the Chandler variety. Harry's Berries otherwise grows Gaviota and Seascape...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The increasing popularity of buying locally produced foods directly from farmers is accompanied by a parallel rise in concerns about keeping local consumers safe from the same pathogens responsible for nationwide outbreaks of salmonella, listeria and E. coli, according to the second in a three-part MSNBC series about food safety.
According to the story, Richard Molinar, small farm program advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in Fresno County, thinks the local food movement will put pressure on local farms to develop food safety...
