By Clint Thompson
The October issue of VSCNews Magazine puts the spotlight on strawberries, one of Florida’s top fruit crops.
Sriyanka Lahiri, University of Florida (UF) Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) Assistant Professor of Entomology and Nematology at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, discusses arthropod pest management strategies in conventional strawberry production. She highlighted control methods for thrips, spider mites, armyworms and aphids.
Johan Desaeger, UF/IFAS Assistant Professor of Entomology and Nematology, cautions growers about the dangers of nematodes to Florida’s strawberry plants and talks about the different nematode species.
Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources agent for Peach and Taylor counties, highlights the different factors impacting strawberry production on plasticulture. These include soil sampling and nitrogen management.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services recently released a report detailing Mexican imports and their impact on Florida agriculture. Tacy Callies, interim editor of VSCNews, details some of the staggering statistics regarding imports’ impact on Florida’s crops.
Ulschan Bathe, a postdoctoral fellow at UF, discusses trichomes in depth and how the tiny plant organs have superpower.
Bryan Leong, a postdoctoral researcher at UF, discusses how to speed up the development of novel crops, which could be instrumental in helping feed the world.
Readers can also learn about biologicals and how their multiple modes of action can help in plant protection.
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