- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Avocados, now riding a tide of popularity appearing on toast in cookbooks and trendy restaurant menus, came late to commercial agriculture, reported Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley in Gastropod, a podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history.
The 48-minute story features Mary Lu Arpaia, UC Cooperative Extension specialist based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier. Arpaia runs the UC avocado breeding program and is now studying varieties that will do well in the San Joaquin...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Despite hot summers and cold winters, UC Cooperative Extension specialist Mary Lu Arpaia believes the San Joaquin Valley could be home to expanded California avocado production, reported Gregory Barber on Wired.com.
Currently, most of the state's avocados are grown in the mild coastal areas of San Diego and Ventura counties, where consumer-favorite Hass avocados flourish. But high land value and low water quality are limitations on the industry. The vast and fertile San Joaquin Valley beckons, but summer temperatures that frequently top 100 degrees and occasional winter freezes...
- 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
An unusual weather pattern over the last year has led to an abundance of small-sized avocados on Southern California trees, reported National Public Radio. The radio news service sought an explanation from Gary Bender, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in San Diego County.
Bender said in his 29 years on the job he has not seen such tiny avocados as those being picked this year.
Typically, several months after pollination, high temperatures in July cause a significant amount of developing fruit to drop to the orchard floor. That didn't happen in the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
If guacamole seems extra expensive come Super Bowl Sunday, it's because of the dry windy weather during the past several days, reported Craig Fiegener of NBC News in Los Angeles. Fiegener reported from UC Riverside and spoke to UC Cooperative Extension subtropical horticulture specialist Peggy Mauk.
Wind is no friend to the avocado industry. Prolonged and dry wind will damage trees and fruit. Citrus trees face the same threat, Mauk said.
"The plant starts making choices where the water needs to go, and the fruit, they're...
