- Author: Chris M. Webb
Crop rotation can improve soil quality and health while helping to manage pests, disease and weeds.
Funded in part by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), the Natural Resource, Agriculture and Engineering Service (NRAES) has recently published a book, Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual. This resource can be downloaded for free. Hardcopies of the book are available for sale at the same site.
In addition to providing instructions for rotation planning, other features of this book include:
- Problems and opportunities for over 500 crop sequences
- Characteristics of more than 60 crops and 70 weeds
- Crop diseases hosted by over 80 weed species
- Modes of transmission for 250 diseases of 24 crops
- Thirteen sample four- and five-year vegetable and grain crop rotations
- Managing Crop Rotation Chart with key tasks & steps
- Sample worksheets and calculations
- Step-by-step procedure for determining crop rotation plans
- Author: Chris M. Webb
The Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. Within the organization there is a pollinator resource center. The center is a collaboration of the Xerces Society and Neal Williams at the University of California at Davis.
The pollinator resource center provides a lot of great information for everyone. In addition to the basics, the site covers:
- Ways to increase native bee populations at conventional agriculture sites
- A toolkit for organic farmers designed to educate about farming practices to reduce risk and harm to pollinators
- Pollinator habitat management, including prescribed burns and grazing areas
- Ways to increase pollinators in the garden
- The important role parks and golf courses can play in enhancing, restoring and creating habitat for these important creatures
- Resources for teachers
Fact sheets are found in the publication section of the website. They are great sources of information, and some of the links and titles are included below.
Native Pollinators on the farm: What’s in it for the growers? An overview of the contribution native bees make to crop pollination, and their value to agriculture.
Butterfly gardening. Learn how to convert your garden into a paradise for butterflies.
Plants for native bees in California. Learn which plants best support native bees in California.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
On Tuesday, September 1st Ventura County UCCE’s Dr. Oleg Daugovish held the 8th Annual Strawberry Production Meeting. This meeting and ones like it are to provide information on current research relevant to Ventura County strawberry production happening both in the county and through other UC campuses. What happens if you missed the meeting, or attended but need to refresh your memory?
As luck would have it, Oleg posts all of the presentation materials on our Ventura County UCCE website. Besides the presentations themselves, you will find other formats of knowledge waiting to be shared. You can find them by clicking on this link.
Once there, you will see that in addition to strawberries, Oleg has much information on caneberries, vegetables, organic production, cost and return studies, weed susceptibility to herbicides chart, weeds and invasive plants in Ventura County, and Master Gardener presentation trainings, which cover backyard vegetables and weeds.
A grower checks strawberry leaves for the presence of spider mites
A tube is used to collect soil and root samples from a test plot looking for methyl bromide alternatives
Recording counts of spider mites and predator mites in Ventura County field
A roller is used to properly slope the tops of strawberry beds for good water drainage
- Author: Chris M. Webb
The University of California Communication Services Division has created a new website. The website is designed to help people easily and quickly find hundreds of free, online publications written by UC ANR (Agricultural and Natural Resources) authors.
The site has much to offer for everyone. The most popular publications are located in the center of the homepage. On the left hand side, the site is easily browsed using the following subjects:
- Agricultural Production
- Agronomy and Range
- Animal Science
- Biotechnology
- En español
- Food Safety
- Home Gardening/Landscape
- Natural Resources
- Nutrition and Health
- Organic Production
- Pest Advice
- Soil, Water and Irrigation
- Vegetable Crop Production
- Youth, Family/Community
This growing collection of free information can be found at https://ucanr.org/freepubs/.
/span>- Author: Chris M. Webb
Ventura County UCCE Staff Research Associate Maren Mochizuki shares current research which hopes to provide an organic method to kill plant pathogens and weed seeds in production agriculture.
Synthetic chemicals to fumigate soil have been used in some production agricultural systems, to kill plant pathogens and weed seed before planting crops. Here in Ventura County, this is a common practice for strawberry production. Joji Muramoto, Associate Researcher at UC Santa Cruz and Oleg Daugovish, Ventura County UCCE Farm Advisor and Maren Mochizuki, Ventura County UCCE Staff Research Associate are investigating an organic method to treat soil before planting by creating anaerobic, or oxygen-free, conditions. Most organisms, including plant pathogens, cannot survive without oxygen.
We incorporated rice bran from the Central Valley into the soil as a carbon source to trigger microbial activity. To test the applicability within a strawberry production system, we created planting beds topped with plastic mulch. The beds needed to be well-sealed to ensure no air leaks that could add oxygen. Using drip irrigation, we added sufficient water to the beds to fill all soil pores, further pushing out any air/oxygen. Each day we monitor the soil environment with sensors measuring soil water content, temperature, and the level of anaerobic conditions and add more water as needed. At the end of three weeks, we will evaluate the survival of a significant plant pathogen, Verticillium dahliae.
ASD Sensors
ASD beds