By Karla Arboleda Southwest Florida growers can expect help from new small fruit Extension specialist Sriyanka Lahiri. At the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC), Lahiri works with strawberries and blueberries to develop a pest management program that uses less broad-spectrum insecticides. Appointed in February, Lahiri helps the small …
SmartIrrigation Apps Improve Water-Use Efficiency
By Vasileios Liakos and George Vellidis Ample water is a critical input needed to grow high-yielding, high-quality crops. Today, irrigated agriculture represents 20 percent of the total cultivated land, but contributes 40 percent of the total food produced worldwide. Due to overuse, droughts and growing demand by urban and industrial users, competition for available fresh water supplies is rapidly increasing. …
Cutting Costs With Smart Sprayers
By Yiannis Ampatzidis Traditional broadcast sprayers usually treat the entire field to control pest populations, potentially resulting in unnecessary application to areas that do not require treatment. These sprayers apply agrochemicals uniformly, even though distribution of weeds is typically patchy. This results in wastage of valuable compounds, increased costs, crop damage risk, pest resistance to chemicals, environmental pollution and contamination …
Judge to Hear Arguments in ‘Water War’
Going along with a request from Florida’s attorneys, a federal judge will hear arguments in December in a long-running water war between Florida and Georgia. Senior U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Paul J. Kelly, who was appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court to serve as a special master in the case, has scheduled oral arguments Dec. 16, according to …
Muscadine Grape Pest Problems
By Karla Arboleda Muscadine grapes are native crops to the deep Southeast and are naturally resistant to some pests. Among other pests, grapevine aphids and grape root borers tend to be the most common problems when growing muscadine grapes. Oscar Liburd, a professor at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and fruit and vegetable entomologist, says …
Studying Muscadine Grapes for Sparkling Wine
By Karla Arboleda Florida sparkling wine is getting help from the scientists working with the muscadine grapes that are native to the deep Southeast. Andrew MacIntosh, assistant professor in the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences (UF/IFAS), studies carbonation methods for sparkling wine for growers to learn more on …
Traveling Hemp Workshop Attracts Potential Growers
The University of Florida (UF) Hemp Pilot Project strives to keep growers informed on everything hemp. In an effort to do just that, Zachary Brym, agronomist at the UF Tropical Research and Education Center and Hemp Pilot Project coordinator, has put together a traveling hemp workshop. The first workshop was held on July 30 in Gainesville, Florida. The workshop was …
Pepper Weevil Prevention
By David Riley and Alton Sparks The pepper weevil (Figure 1) is one of the most serious pests of peppers in the Americas. This weevil was introduced into the United States from Mexico as early as 1904(Elmore et al., 1934). The weevil can effectively shut down pepper production if not controlled early enough in the growing season. Even with the …
Labor Struggles Continue
By Amy Wolfe Growers across the United States, and the Southeast in particular, are once again challenged to find stable, consistent and quality sources of labor. Long dependent upon the H-2A guest worker visa program, growers continue to rely heavily on their knowledge and effective use of the only viable, legal mechanism for securing foreign labor. Trends show, however, that …
Citrus, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Industries Collide at the General Session
By Ashley Robinson AgNet Media Inc. is excited to bring the citrus, vegetable and specialty crop industries together for our second annual general session. We invite all growers to attend the general session, where we will kick off the Vegetable & Specialty Crop Expo (VSC Expo), being held in conjunction with the 28th annual Citrus Expo. Topics of broad interest, …