- Author: Emily C. Dooley, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Resistant varieties to be released later this year to growers
Strawberry losses from Fusarium wilt could become less of a threat after researchers at the University of California, Davis, discovered genes that are resistant to the deadly soilborne disease.
The findings, published in the journal Theoretical and Applied Genetics, are the culmination of several years' work, and the discovery will...
- Author: Kat Kerlin, UC Davis
Natural habitat maximizes the benefits of birds for farmers, food safety and conservation
A supportive environment can bring out the best in an individual — even for a bird.
After an E.coli outbreak in 2006 devastated the spinach industry, farmers were pressured to remove natural habitat to keep wildlife — and the foodborne pathogens they can sometimes carry — from visiting crops. A study published today from the University of California, Davis, shows that farms with surrounding natural habitat experience the most benefits from birds, including less crop damage and lower food-safety risks.
- Author: Maureen Ladley, UC Master Food Preserver of Solano/Yolo Counties
If you only have time to read this much: pectin is vegan-friendly.
I was having lunch at an outdoor venue with a lovely vegetarian friend. When we got around to all things canning, I told her how excited I was to try a sugar-free jam recipe using a particular pectin. "I cannot eat jams with pectin. I'm vegetarian," she mentioned. I was shocked. Having a smartphone, I immediately looked up the pectin in question. It's 100% plant-based. I showed her the ingredients, and she was surprised. She thought pectin and gelatin were similar and not vegetarian- or vegan-friendly. If my lovely, smart vegetarian friend was confused by pectin, I suspected others are, too.
Pectin is a thread-like vegetable-based carbohydrate that, when...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Strawberries, which generated $2.2 billion for California growers mainly on the coast in 2019, are sensitive to soilborne diseases. Strawberry plant roots infected by fungi are unable to take in nutrients and water, causing the leaves and stems to wilt. The diseases reduce fruit yields and eventually kill infected plants.
To protect the delicate plants from pathogens, strawberry growers fumigate the soil with pesticides such as chloropicrin and 1,3-dichloropropene before planting transplants. Due to the potential negative effects on the environment and human health, however, use of fumigants are highly regulated and developing...
- Author: Ruth Dahlquist-Willard
Central Valley residents from Visalia to Sacramento look forward every year to the beginning of strawberry season in early April, when roadside strawberry stands operated by Hmong and Mien farmers open to the public.
These farms grow strawberry varieties such as Chandler and Camarosa that haven't traded flavor for shelf life – they don't ship or store well, but they are far sweeter than varieties usually sold in stores, and they reach their peak ripeness and flavor in the fields next to the strawberry stands.
As strawberry season opens this year, farmers are hoping...
