By Clint Thompson
The September issue of VSCNews Magazine highlights issues discussed at this year’s Citrus, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Expo on Aug. 18-19 in Fort Myers, Florida. Imports, H-2A improvements, carbon markets, COVID-19 impacts and an update on the current Tomato Suspension Agreement were a few of the topics discussed during the Ag issues session.
Issues like whitefly management, the rise of powdery mildew in watermelons, hemp production in Florida, artichokes and soil management were highlighted in the Vegetable and Specialty Crop seminar.
Also in this month’s issue is a feature about old fruit crops that could offer additional opportunities. These include loquat, mulberry, feijoa and pawpaw. They could be a step or two away from allowing growers to diversify.
Since 2015, hops research has been a staple at the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. UF/IFAS researchers provide updates on variety trials and recent breeding efforts.
In the Making Sense of Biologicals section, there is a concern over resistance to fungicides and insecticides. But an innovative way to combat resistance is with the use of biologicals, specifically because they provide multi-site modes of action, compared to a single-site mode of action product.
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