Calag Archive

California's small-scale farmers and direct marketers lead the nation in production of specialty potatoes, primarily yellow-fleshed types. Currently, limited varieties are available to meet the requirements for direct-marketing, organic production and perceived high consumer quality parameters such as flavor. During the 1990s, UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension collaborated with farmers throughout California to conduct trials to identify the most desirable or profitable varieties among existing and potential new specialty potato varieties. Many European varieties are superior in yield and may be equal in quality to standard varieties. Specialty potato varieties with a diversity of yield potential, tuber size distribution, maturity and flesh-color intensity are available for conventional or alternative production and marketing systems. Consumer evaluations indicate variable preferences for color, taste, texture and other quality parameters. No general conclusions can be made about consumer preference for varieties.

Agricultural tourism (also known as agritourism and agrotourism) can have significant benefits for farmers and communities in the agricultural-urban interface of San Diego and other metropolitan counties. Results from a visitor study indicate that agricultural tourism has substantial economic impacts on local economies. In addition, agritourism provides opportunities for diversification and economic incentives for growers, promotes economic development and helps educate the public about the important contributions of agriculture to the county's economy and quality of life.

This survey of farmers' market managers shows that farmers' markets offer growers opportunities to expand their businesses by developing new market venues, including community-supported agriculture, institutional food buyers and government food programs; creating value-added products; and making connections with the agritourism industry. The size and location of host communities contribute different kinds of business expansion opportunities. Markets in rural areas offer some of the strongest community support to vendors and link them with the tourist industry. Small-town markets have added the most new vendors in the last 3 years and almost two-thirds of these markets have space, indicating that there is still room for growth. Markets in metropolitan areas may be harder to get into, but they provide the highest gross sales and show the greatest increase in demand for value-added products over the last 3 years. Managers can help growers capitalize on these opportunities through the rapport and connections they develop with community businesses, associations and institutions.

An analysis of tree-water relations and fruit yield indicates that Black Mission fig production responds favorably to a higher volume of water applied during the summer than is currently used by most of the industry. Larger fruit size was the primary yield component responsible for the improved production and profit. Based on historical reference crop evapotranspiration rates and the crop coefficients determined using data from this study, summer-applied water should be about 36 inches for maximum Black Mission fruit production and grower profit in the Madera area.

In the early 1990s, powdery mildew became a recurring problem on chili peppers and bell peppers in all production districts in California. Growers were initially unprepared to deal with the disease. Research has shown that several fungicides can control this disease. Sulfur is most effective as a preventive fungicide. In variety trials, four experimental varieties were significantly less susceptible to powdery mildew than the standard commercial variety. Genetic resistance is likely to eventually be incorporated into commercial bell pepper varieties.

Monitoring water quality is a major issue on California's rangeland watersheds, and there is limited published data to guide these efforts. We used stream-flow and water-quality data from experimental rangeland watersheds to demonstrate the temporal variability of water quality at the storm, season and annual time scales. The timing and frequency of water sampling from the storm to the annual time scale play an extremely significant role in water-quality monitoring. Our studies conducted in Northern California suggest that a minimum sampling strategy should include sampling before, during and after storms. Samples must be collected over a period of several years to account for variability among years.