- Author: Chris M. Webb
As in all industries, there are some activities in farming that can be harmful to the environment. Improper use of chemical inputs, poor water management, monoculture, and reliance on imported pollinators creates an increasingly fragile and unsustainable industry.
Agroecosystems rely on diversified farming systems to create natural biodiversity. This type of farming system is much more sustainable as well as less damaging to the environment.
Ways that biodiversity can be increased on the farm include: growing multiple crops, interspersing natural habitat with crops and livestock, planting cover crops, and minimal soil tillage. These practices work together to provide pollination, pest and disease control, water purification, and erosion control. In addition they build healthy, productive soil and reduce water usage.
To learn more, please visit The Berkeley Center for Diversified Farming Systems.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Division (UC ANR) has recently released a new priced publication, Cover Cropping for Vegetable Production: A Grower’s Handbook.
Written by a collaborative of UC researchers, including Ventura County Farm Advisor Oleg Daugovish this handbook brings together the expertise of many.
Topics include:
- Introduction of cover crops for vegetables and their uses
- Botany and species selection
- Agricultural soil ecology
- Water management and impacts on water quality
- Soil nitrogen fertility management
- Weeds
- Soilborne pathogens
- Plant and soil nematodes
- Arthropods
- Cover crop management
- Economics
We currently have a few copies for sale in the office, or you may purchase online. If purchasing online, please use promo code PRVEN56 to receive 10% off your order.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
A new volume of Topics in Subtropics is now available.
This newsletter is a collaborate effort of UCCE Farm Advisors throughout the state. Topics in this issue include:
- Organic Herbicides: Do they work? – An interesting research summary on organic herbicide products currently available. Suggestions for maximizing results are included.
- Snake Oil: Horticultural Myths and Legends – Practical tips for avoiding products that do not provide benefit or can possibly cause harm.
- Success Story Before There is a Problem – Ben Faber describes a common pest in Turkey that causes much damage to a wide range of plants, including citrus. Tropinota hirta Poda (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae) feeds on flowers and reproductive plant parts, resulting in no fruit formation. While this beetle is has not yet been found in the United States, knowledge of potential method for control is already stateside.
To access this addition, as well as previous additions, of Topics in Subtropics please visit this page of our website.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
Companion planting, or intercropping, can create improved biodiversity in agroecosystems. The concepts of companion planting can be used in home gardens or in commercial agriculture.
Beneficial plant associations can provide many positive interactions in the field or garden. They include:
- Trap cropping
- Symbiotic nitrogen fixation
- Biochemical pest suppression
- Physical spatial interactions
- Nurse cropping
- Beneficial habitats
- Security through diversity
To learn more about companion planting, mixed intercropping, or strip intercropping, please see Companion Planting: Basic Concepts & Resources. Digital versions of this publication are free from ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas). ATTRA is the national sustainable agriculture information center funded by the USDA’s Rural Business – Cooperative Service.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
In June of this year, three University of California scientists went to the Kitui District of Kenya on a USAID mission.
Food and water scarcity are simply a part of life for most in this region. Since 1992 the Sahelian Solution Foundation (SASOL) has been constructing dams and working with Kitui communities to address water scarcity and issues of community development and agricultural production.
Agricultural production in Kenya is full of challenges. Water is carried by hand from wells or dams for household and agricultural needs. Previous to this mission crops were watered inefficiently by flooding small basins. Nitrogen tests in some locations revealed levels at which most vegetable crops would be nitrogen deficient. Some of the villages have no road access.
UC’s Steve Fennimore, Jeff Mitchell, and Oleg Daugovish went to help SASOL and the people they serve make better use of their resources.
They met with village leaders and SASOL personnel in Kitui. Here they provided training and demonstrations covering topics including:
- Demonstrations of gravity-flow drip irrigation systems from water tanks to individual beds with irrigation lines
- Discussed use of mulches on soil to minimize evaporation and enhance soil conservation
- Solarization, nursery for transplants, diseases and insects, training tomato plants and culture
- Soil types, determination of soil moisture, quick nitrogen test, use of cover crops and mulches
- Water quality (pH, hardness, salts), organic fertilizers, collection and use of urine as a rapidly available nitrogen source.
Later the information was shared in the Maito village, where onions, green kale and green grams (Phasleolus aureus) are grown. The next day found the group in the Kituvwi village, where due to poor crop production meals are currently limited to once a day. The following day was spent in the Kathayoni village. Farmers in the Kathayoni village grow kale, onions and tomatoes.
SASOL will continue the training for members in villages not reached during this visit.
The majority of farmers in the Kitui District are women. Information was well received in all locations and many questions were asked. At each village the scientists were fed a stew of corns and beans, supplemented by avocado slices or bread, with tea and milk to drink.
The last day time was spent at the South East University College. Potential for agricultural experimentation and greenhouses was discussed, and UC scientists gave a seminar about UCCE function and on anaerobic soil-borne pest control.