- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
California farmers are changing the way they grow avocados to deal with three distinct problems that are cutting into profits: rising fertilizer costs, spikes in water rates, and competition from avocados grown in Peru, Chile and Mexico, says University of California Cooperative Extension farm adviser Gary Bender. He was quoted in a story on Takepart.com about looming price increases for much-loved guacamole.
It takes 74 gallons of water to produce one pound of avocados — and drought-stricken California produces...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
This year's Fresno County processing tomato crop is suffering from a severe case of curly top virus, reported Alice Daniel on the California Report this morning.
Daniel interviewed Tom Turini, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Fresno County. He said it's common to find some tomatoes infected with curly top, but this year is much worse than usual. The virus is transmitted by beet leafhoppers, which in dry years arrive early from coastal foothills and infect a bigger swath of cropland.
Fresno county has about 100,000 acres of processing tomatoes. Some fields have been completely lost.
"It is likely...
