Posts Tagged: fumigants
Free Workshops for Youth, Professionals and Community Members. Plus: Fire and Plant Disease Resources for Homeowners
Learn About California Agriculture
Join us on Thursday, May 21st, 9:30 am PST, for Part 2 of a webinar series on California agriculture, where we'll learn about major crops and production areas. This webinar will feature UCCE Ventura County advisors Andre Biscaro and Ben Faber. Watch it live or view after on YouTube. Part 1 is up. This is an ideal webinar series for the home classroom.
Fumigants and Non-Fumigant Alternatives: Regulatory & Research Updates
Growers, PCAs, applicators and supervisors of fumigant and non-fumigant technologies and decision makers should plan to attend this free, virtual educational outreach event, scheduled for Monday May 29th from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. This workshop is open to the public. Although targeted to strawberries, most of the learning will generally apply to other crops. The program is being hosted by Dr. Oleg Daugovish, who serves as the Strawberry and Vegetable Crop Advisor for UCCE Ventura County.
Topics include:
- Most pertinent regulatory requirements for fumigant use and application
- Industry updates on fumigant and non-fumigant tools use
- Fumigant application based on need within fields
- Soil-borne pathogen management
Continuing Education Units are available: 1.5 hours of "Other" and 1.0 hours of laws and regulations have been applied for from California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR).
Registration is required and participants will receive a link and instructions prior to the workshop. Register here.
Announcing Treemendous Learning Webinars for Middle and High School Students
Join us on alternate Tuesdays in May and June, 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, for this opportunity designed for middle and high school students. Treemendous Tuesdays is a collaboration of U.S. Forest Service, Los Angeles Center for Urban Natural Resources, California Project Learning Tree, California 4-H, and UC Agriculture & Natural Resources
Five webinars will be hosted every other week starting May 5 and ending June 30. These events are free and registration is required.
- May 5: Invasive Species (invasive shot hole borers)
- May 19: Invasive Plants & Trees
- June 2: Benefits of the Urban Forest
- June 16: iTree
- June 30: Living with Fire
Register at https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=29846
New Resource to Diagnose and Manage Plant Disease
UC's Integrated Pest Management Program has a new Pest Notes publication available, which provides information to help diagnose and manage Anthracnose, fungal diseases that can impact many deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. These diseases can also infect vegetables, flowers, fruit and turfgrass in some regions in California. Dr. Jim Downer, an Advisor in our UCCE Ventura County office, is a co-author.
Preparing for Fire Season
UC ANR has organized an electronic portal - Homeowner's Wildfire Mitigation Guide - that contains a wealth of resources to help homewoners prepare for fire season. Please visit our Fire Resources and Information page for the latest research and information.
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Washington Post: Are Strawberries Going Away?
Uh... no I don't think so. Not by a long shot.
Consider the loosely written article from WaPo concerning the phase-out of methyl bromide and the effect it will have on the strawberry industry:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/08/04/scientists-race-to-find-solution-for-imperiled-strawberry-industry/
Yes, beyond the breeding, steam and ASD, actual methyl bromide fumigation alternatives do exist and will play a big role in the future of the industry. Matter of fact, I've a got a meeting going on this afternoon at my office of top industry scientists and growers to coordinate our efforts in just that.
Money line of the article by UCCE scientist Steve Fennimore - "People talk about a silver bullet to replace it, and that's a mistake. We want to put a lot of treatments together and make it all work."
Growers: Calculate Your VOC Emissions
Note from Cheryl Wilen: This information may apply if you are located in an area that has restrictions on VOC emissions. This is currently the San Joaquin Valley including all of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, and Tulare counties and the valley portion of Kern County. For more information about the regulations see the fact sheet link below.
As summer continues to heat up, keep in mind that regulations remain in effect to reduce the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be emitted into the atmosphere by pesticides and other harmful chemicals and contribute to the amount of ozone or smog in the environment.
Calculators from the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) that determine the VOC emissions from fumigant and non-fumigant pesticides before application are available to help growers, pest control advisers, and pesticide applicators comply with the regulations. The UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program provides a link to these calculators from each of the treatment tables in the UC Pest Management Guidelines. Click on the Air Quality – Calculate emissions button.
Take steps to reduce VOCs. Avoid emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulations as they release the highest VOC emissions. Pesticide control advisers and growers can also reduce VOC emissions by employing IPM practices such as using resistant varieties, traps, exclusion, and biological control. When using pesticides, spot-treat and seek low-emission materials. Solid formulations, such as granules or powders, are best.
Check the fact sheet on the DPR web site for the most up-to-date-information on VOC restrictions and regulations.
Fumigant alternatives and soil-borne pathogens field day
On the morning of Tuesday, April 3 Oleg Daugovish will hold a fumigant alternatives and soil-borne pathogens field day. This event will be simultaneously translated into Spanish.
Scheduled topics include:
- Regulatory update on soil fumigation
- Alternative fumigants research update
- Soil borne pathogens Macrophomina and Fusarium: biology and management in strawberry
- Advances in steam application technology for soil disinfestation
- Update on Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation studies
- Research update from the California Strawberry Commission
- In-progress results from experiment on display
- View the plots with fumigant alternative treatments
Continuing education credits have been approved from DPR (Department of Pesticide Regulation).
Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Additional details can be found on the agenda.
To insure your participation, or if you have questions, please contact Oleg Daugovish at (805) 645-1454 or odaugovish@ucdavis.edu.
Partners of the Americas
UCCE Farm Advisor, Oleg Daugovish recently participated in a trip sponsored by the Partners of Americas Farmer to Farmer Program. This program is designed to improve economic opportunities of people living in rural areas of Latin America and the Carribbean.
Over nine days, Oleg helped participants in the Dominican Republic (DR ) learn how to increase food production and distribution, suggested improvements for farm operations and conserving natural resources. Most producers in this area of the world have small acreage and part of the production takes place in greenhouses or under tunnels. Most operations use drip irrigation. Greenhouses are equipped with double screen doors. Diagnostic facilities are not readily available.
Much like in Ventura County, many of the farmers Oleg worked with in DR grew strawberries and peppers. Growers in both places face many of the same challenges, but with different climates and infrastructures. While in the Dominican Republic Oleg covered many miles, visited multiple farms per day, and educated a lot of people at several meetings.
Topics covered included:
- Weed management
- Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD)
- Substrates
- Fumigation
- Quality of planting material
- Crop rotation
- Slight adjustments in production to increase yield
- Propagation
In addition to the help he provided in person, Oleg shared the following UC ANR online resources with DR farmers.
- University of California post-harvest management for fruits and vegetables (en Espanol) -- the produce facts sheets are available in several languages
- University of California IPM guidelines, available for most crops, including strawberry (en Espanol). This site has a crop –specific pest and weed management treatment table for each pest/weed/pathogen and is updated frequently
- Phytophthora spp. seem to be prevalent among soil-borne pathogens in the DR. Aside from fumigation and ASD, phosphorus acid materials can be used such as Fosfite, Alliete or others containing the same active ingredient. Details are at this page of the University of California IPM website.
- Section of web-page for Strawberry production at the UCCE-Ventura County website. The menu on the left contains presentations on various subjects and links to UC weed susceptibility chart for herbicides available in California and cost and return studies for crops
- Foundation plant Services at U. California – strawberry. The site provides info about obtaining the UC varieties of strawberries.
At several locations Oleg suggested slits for strawberry planting instead of round holes. Smaller holes around transplants mean fewer weeds. Increased density was recommended in some places.
Greenhouse grown peppers at this DR location were declining due to nematode presence (observed colonies on roots), likely P. capsici and foliar problems: mildew and leaf miner damage.