UC Scientists Receive Big Climate-Smart Grant

UC ANR Scientists Receive $1.5M NIFA Grant For Climate-Smart Agriculture

By Pam Kan-Rice, UCANR Assistant Director, News and Information Outreach

To help California farmers and ranchers adjust to uncertain weather and climate events, the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture has awarded $1.5 million to a team of scientists led by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. The project is one of six projects funded by USDA NIFA’s $9 million investment to expand adoption of climate-smart practices.

“The Cooperative Extension system and the USDA Climate Hubs have unmatched capacity to reach agricultural, Tribal and underserved communities, as well as educators and students, and our nation’s farmers directly,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement announcing the grant recipients. “This partnership will strengthen climate research efforts and accelerate the development, adoption and application of science-based, climate-smart practices that benefit everyone.”

California has the largest and the most diverse agricultural economy in the nation, with revenue exceeding $50 billion, which is larger than the revenues of the other 10 Western states combined. Despite its size, the state is highly vulnerable to climate change.

“California farmers and ranchers need locally relevant climate information and adaptation resources,” said Tapan Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension specialist based at UC Merced and principal investigator for the grant. “Similarly, technical service providers are often ill-equipped to assist farmers and ranchers when asked questions about climate change, weather variability and local implications to implement those decisions.”

To train the next generation of workers to be climate-ready, colleges expose students to climate science and agricultural science separately, but often lack opportunities for the students to learn about the nexus of climate and agriculture.

Pathak plans to provide classes – along with opportunities for practical learning experiences – to farmers, ranchers, agricultural service providers and students.

“An overarching goal of this project is to develop robust multifaceted pathways to climate-smart agriculture by integrating Extension and participatory education program development and delivery to enhance agricultural resilience to climate change,” he said.

“To tackle this ambitious goal, we have a large team of multidisciplinary leading scientists and experts from local, state and federal agencies, the California Climate Hub and the University of California ready to work with diverse stakeholder groups.”

UC Cooperative Extension specialists Leslie Roche, Vikram Koundinya and Daniele Zaccaria at UC Davis; Mark Cooper, UC Davis professor; and Steven Ostoja of the USDA California Climate Hub, are co-principal investigators with Pathak.

They will begin with a needs assessment for all of their stakeholders, including socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Through three components, the project team will work to understand growers’ perception of climate change-related threats, build capacity for technical assistance providers to advance climate-smart agriculture research and delivery of science-based information, and educate community college and undergraduate university students.

Engaging with farmers and ranchers

With the help of community partners including the Community Alliance of Family Farmers and the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, the team will reach out to socially disadvantaged and limited-resource producers, including beginning and first-generation farmers and ranchers to attend regional workshops, led by instructors who are fluent in Spanish and Hmong.

Workshop content will address a broad range of topics including climate change trends and local impacts, drought planning strategies, optimization of agricultural productivity with limited resources and farm and ranch economic sustainability.

“California has so much diversity in terms of scale, crops, geography, micro-climates, market conditions and natural resource considerations that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work,” wrote Renata Brillinger, CalCAN executive director, in her letter supporting the project. “We support your plans to address the needs of producers though region-specific workshops.”

Five county-based UC Cooperative Extension academics will serve as regional leads for the farming workshops across broad geographic regions:

Andre Biscaro, UCCE irrigation and water resources advisor serving Ventura County
Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, UCCE small farms advisor for Fresno and Tulare counties
Surendra Dara, UCCE entomology and biologicals advisor serving San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties
Jairo Diaz, director of the UC Desert Research and Extension Center in Southern California
Jhalendra Rijal, UCCE integrated pest management advisor serving San Joaquin and Merced counties

Workshops for ranchers and rangeland managers will be coordinated by UCCE rangeland and livestock advisors in their respective regions:

Dan Macon, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor for Plumas, Nevada, Sutter and Yuba counties, will organize workshops for the Sierra Nevada mountains and foothill region
Grace Woodmansee, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor for Siskiyou County, will organize workshops in Northern California
Rebecca Ozeran, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor for Fresno and Madera counties, will organize workshops in Central California
Devii Rao, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor for Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, will organize workshops in the coastal region
Brooke Latack, UCCE livestock advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will organize workshops in Southern California

Training technical service providers

The team will offer climate-smart agriculture trainings for technical service providers on how to prepare for key stressors in California agriculture such as floods, droughts, wildfires and heatwaves; effective climate communications; invasive pests and disease management under future climate; and weather and climate resources and decision support tools for managing risks.

One of the aims of this component is to encourage more coordinated efforts among different agencies to deliver climate change resources to their respective stakeholders, Pathak said.

California Cattlemen’s Association has expressed its support for the project.

“Given ranchers’ strong relationships with and reliance upon technical services providers – particularly those housed within the USDA and University of California – CCA also sees great value in the project’s goal of building capacity within those organizations to assist ranchers in addressing the challenges of climate change,” wrote Kirk Wilbur, CCA vice president of government affairs.

Nurturing future generations

For college students, there will be the UC Merced Summer Institute on Climate and Agriculture certificate course organized by Karina Diaz Rios, UC Cooperative Extension specialist based at UC Merced; the UC Davis credit-based course “Science and Society: Climate Change and Agriculture;” and a certificate course for community college students, which will be overseen by the Bay Area Community College Consortium of 28 colleges.

“We will join you in this exciting work and shared vision towards inclusive education in climate resilient agriculture,” wrote Nancy Gutierrez, statewide director of the Agriculture, Water, Environmental Tech sector of the California Community College System.

Students from the three courses will be selected for paid summer internships to engage in Cooperative Extension projects.

“Through climate-smart agriculture education, the workforce will be prepared to advance climate science and research efforts for future generations,” Pathak said.

California Ag Today2022-01-18T08:08:21-08:00January 18th, 2022|

CA Farm Bureau Oppose Two Assembly Bills Regarding Land Use

California Farm Bureau Opposes Assembly Bills 1547 and 1001

The new legislative session kicked off this past week with two land use bills that will stifle development projects with additional requirements.

AB 1547 (Eloise Reyes, D-Los Angeles), a Farm Bureau opposed bill, has been recently amended following a hearing by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

The bill, as introduced last year, would authorize the Air Resources Board to regulate indirect emission sources, a role traditionally held by local air quality management and pollution control districts. The bill would also require a local government, before approving a warehouse development project, to ensure the project is at least 3,000 yards from a sensitive land use, consider all air quality impacts from incoming and outgoing trucks and require all onsite equipment (loaders, trucks, forklifts, belts, etc.) be electric.

The bill would also require much more significant public outreach to community residents beyond the current CEQA requirements, including the development of a “community benefits agreement” that identifies the project’s zero emission vehicle use, delivery and waste hauling protocols and private shuttle service. The bill also requires all construction work completed on the warehouse development project to be conducted be done by a “skilled and training workforce” or that a set percentage of jobs are offered to residents.

Farm Bureau has joined a coalition to oppose AB 1547 with concerns raised about the bill’s application to downstream food processing, distribution and storage facilities, and to on or off-farm coolers and packing sheds.

Farm Bureau opposes AB 1001 (Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens). This bill expands CEQA requirements to incorporate the issue of discriminatory land use policies. Specifically, the bill creates two new legal standards: (1) it forces all public agencies when complying with CEQA to “act consistently with the principles of environmental justice,” and (2) requires all air and water quality impacts be mitigated directly in the affected disadvantaged community. Both requirements are already incorporated in planning and zoning laws and CEQA requirements and present ambiguities, legal challenges and liabilities for lead agencies and project applicants.

A bill that would have established a climate bond, SB 45 (Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada), has been amended to respond to implementation of the state’s short- lived climate pollutant goals. Existing law requires cities and counties to divert 75% of their organic waste below 2014 levels by 2025. Regulations went into effect January 1st of this year and will be very challenging for local jurisdictions to meet. In response, SB 45 requires CalRecycle to provide additional budgetary assistance to cities and counties to meet this mandate.

California Ag Today2022-01-14T14:20:48-08:00January 14th, 2022|

California Table Grape Growers Continue Path to Mechanization and Automation

California table grape growers, collectively through the California Table Grape Commission, are working to mechanize and automate operational functions, with a goal of reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of vineyard operations

By California Table Grape Commission

California table grape growers, collectively through the California Table Grape Commission, are working to mechanize and automate operational functions, with a goal of reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of vineyard operations.

One of the priorities is to minimize the movement of labor and maximize production per foot travelled. A time and motion study conducted on harvest activities helped the industry understand where and how much time is spent on picking and packing tasks. A second time and motion study on in-house packing is in the process of being completed; the goal is to understand how labor is distributed across tasks and facilities, and identify potential areas of mechanization and automation.

Another priority is to introduce automation to the harvesting of table grapes. This work is being done with the use of autonomous carts that aid in-vineyard movement of freshly harvested grapes. Other cart capabilities being tested include utilizing sensors to detect ripe berries and robotics to pick ripe berry clusters without damaging the fruit. Other sensor research and development includes crop mapping and estimation via cluster counting, berry size measurement, and berry color detection as well as remote monitoring for increased water use efficiency.

The commission is also researching mechanized tools to improve vineyard pruning efficiency including hand-held battery-powered pruners, and tractor-mounted mechanical pruners workable in table grape trellis systems. A related product review on global tools and technologies available for mechanical pruning of table grapes was recently completed.

The commission is considering other categories of innovation such as sensing and spot treating for pests and diseases, automated production and packing practices, and new vineyard infrastructure to facilitate automation and mechanization.

California Ag Today2022-01-06T10:39:20-08:00January 6th, 2022|

Snow and Rain Great, But Regulations Continue for Growers

Richard Matoian: Regulations, Cost of Production Impact Growers

As we enter the winter months of the year after this production season of pistachios, we’re wondering what’s on the growers’ minds.

“I think the focus of growers in more recent times have been all that they’re having to deal with to grow a crop, harvest a crop and successfully market that crop,” Richard Matoian is President of American Pistachio Growers. It has a lot to do with input costs, whether it be water or labor, or fertilizer or other inputs.”

“It has to do with regulatory situations that are impacting the grower’s ability to effectively grow and harvest their crop, and it has to also do with what the future looks like for any one of the commodities.

And in the case of pistachios, we have more and more acres going into production, more and more crop to sell, and we need to make sure that we develop these export markets. “Because the vast majority are 60%-70% of pistachios are exported around the world,” said Matoian.

“In order for growers to be successful, they’re having to deal with all that they deal with in a given year, we need to help them be successful in the marketing side by developing new markets,” noted Matoian.

And besides the need for new markets, one of the big stressors for growers is having enough water to provide for their crops. So far, this winter, there is record snowfall and substantial rain.

California Ag Today2022-01-04T10:36:42-08:00January 4th, 2022|

California Walnut Board Advocates for Growers and Research

California Walnut Board Supports Industry Growth with Retail, Research and Advocacy Programs

Despite Pandemic, FY 2020/2021 Saw Record Production

During the 2020-2021 crop year, California walnut growers and handlers worked together with the California Walnut Board and California Walnut Commission to advance the industry in new ways. Growers produced a record crop of 785,000 tons, a 20 percent gain over the 2019 crop. The California Walnut Board (CWB) and Commission (CWC) promoted walnuts through marketing campaigns that increased sales, leveraged new CWC-funded health research to sustain consumer interest in walnut consumption, conducted new production and post-harvest research to help maintain competitiveness, and accessed government dollars.

“In a year where a pandemic has altered so many aspects of the way Americans live and work, the Board’s contributions to the industry have been critical,” says Michelle Connelly, Executive Director of California Walnut Board.

Retail Campaign Generates Double-Digit Sales Growth

Retail programs drove sales and consumption during seasonal time periods when walnuts are not typically a priority for consumers. During American Heart Month in February, the CWB worked with retailers nationwide on a campaign to display walnuts with messaging about their heart-health benefits*. With 34 participating retailers, operating 10,400 locations, retailers saw an average sales lift of 22.5 percent. Additionally, television and radio advertising during this program reached 52% of US households.

In May through August, a summer snacking campaign signed-on 26 retailers with 7,400 locations to execute in-store promotions and specials. The first-of-its-kind snacking-focused program encouraged retailers to think of new ways to promote walnuts by tying into the consumer trend. Retail elements were supported with consumer outreach, and the average US consumer saw the message on walnuts and snacking six times. The campaign drove year-over-year walnut sales increases, when comparing the summer months.

Production Research Delivers Short- and Long-Term Benefits

The CWB continued investment in research programs to maintain competitiveness in walnut production and processing, as well as invested in applied projects that directly benefit immediate grower needs. Topics including pest management, food safety, product quality, and more were prevalent in these programs. UC Davis’ CWB-funded walnut breeding program released a new varietal, UC Wolfskill, in hopes of finding more desirable traits such as a late leafing, early harvesting Chandler-like variety.

The CWB Grades and Standards Committee approved 11 post-harvest research projects, three of which are exploring byproduct utilization for the walnut industry to add further value across the supply chain while promoting sustainability. The Committee also funded a project to develop methods and a database to help differentiate walnuts from various origins and cultivators which can help preserve the integrity and reputation of California walnuts.

“Our research programs are key in providing growers and handlers the resources they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive space,” says Connelly.

Steps Taken to Increase Efficiencies and Mitigate Market Disruptions

In September, the CWB voted to suspend the mandatory outbound inspections of walnuts to mitigate market disruptions like labor shortages or shipping constraints, while reducing redundancies. The suspension brings further efficiencies to the industry, while allowing resources to be saved.

“The Federal Marketing Order rules governing inspections are obsolete as market and customer quality demands have since surpassed USDA grade standards,” added Connelly. “The Board’s vote to suspend the inspections stands to benefit both producers and processors.”

CWC and CWB Do More Together to Advance Industry

In lock step with the CWB, CWC activities also contributed to and supported the industry throughout the year. As a result of the Commission’s efforts, walnut growers received over $85MM in direct payments from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) 1 alone and millions more through CFAP 2. Ensuring the walnut industry’s voice was heard, the CWC, as part of a coalition, also worked with sectors of the CA government to urge lawmakers in the Department of Pesticide Regulations to not increase mill tax for at least two years.

Furthermore, 17 scientific papers published that were funded or supported by the CWC, including findings in the areas of heart health, cognition, gut health and longevity. Sharing those health findings with health professionals and reporters resulted in 431 articles mentioning the health benefits of walnuts in mainstream media. The average US consumer saw the message 22 times.

Connelly shared more about why a robust, ongoing health research program is important, “Health is a top reason why consumers eat walnuts and demands are always evolving. New research discovers breakthrough results and makes important health advancements.”

Growers who want to learn more about how the CWB/CWC are doing more for the walnut industry are encouraged to sign up for newsletters to hear directly from the Board, follow our social channels on LinkedIn and @GrowCAWalnuts on Facebook, and learn more at walnuts.org/walnut-industry.

* Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet and not resulting in increased caloric intake, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. (FDA) One ounce of walnuts offers 18g of total fat, 2.5g of monounsaturated fat, 13g of polyunsaturated fat including 2.5g of alpha-linolenic acid – the plant-based omega-3.

California Ag Today2022-01-04T10:33:32-08:00January 4th, 2022|

Suppliers, Retailers Warn California Grape Growers of Herbicide Shortages

Supply-chain Crisis Forces Some to Pivot to Mechanical, Biocontrol Measures

By Mike Hsu, UCANR Senior Public Information Representative

Driving through her vineyards on a chilly morning in December, Hortencia Alvarado is taking comfort – for now – that the weeds she sees are all yellow. But there remains a nagging worry that, like the pesky plants, is merely lying dormant for the season.

When March rolls around, and the first signs of new green growth appear on the vines, Alvarado and other vineyard managers will again have to confront the ongoing shockwaves of the global supply-chain crisis.

Growers of grapes – the third-highest valued agricultural commodity in California at $4.48 billion in 2020 – likely won’t be able to access the herbicides that they usually apply.

“I definitely need to start thinking and considering it because I don’t want to be in that situation where I don’t have [the herbicide] when I need it,” said Alvarado, a vineyard manager in the San Joaquin Valley.

Imperfect alternatives

She first noticed the effects of the shortages this past August, during the application following the harvest of early varietals. Alvarado’s agricultural pest control adviser had recommended a different product, instead of their usual standby, Rely – because none of the handful of suppliers in California could find it. Then Alvarado’s foreman started reporting that the substitute wasn’t controlling the weeds.

“We were using some other stuff that wasn’t as good, so basically we were wasting money on stuff that wasn’t doing what we wanted it to do,” Alvarado explained.

They quickly pivoted to their mechanical weeder to chop up the weeds, but that’s been an imperfect solution. They only have one machine and it would take three or four machines to adequately weed the nearly 3,000 acres that Alvarado manages.

The need for more machines or labor is just one result of the herbicide shortage, said George Zhuang, University of California Cooperative Extension viticulture farm advisor in Fresno County. Zhuang has received “a lot” of calls from growers about the chemical supply issues, which are also affecting fertilizers. He’s been urging them to move away from traditional herbicides to mechanical means or biocontrol such as sheep or fowl – even though they might be more expensive.

Zhuang estimates that while a weed program comprises 5% to 10% of total production costs in a normal year with the usual herbicides, the use of nonchemical alternatives could hike that percentage up to 10% to 20%. In addition to their impact on the bottom line, effective herbicides are especially crucial to grape growers because vines – unlike tree crops – cannot naturally shade out weeds with expansive canopies.

“Right now, people can still scramble around and find some limited chemicals to make sure the crop is successful for the harvest, but if the situation goes for another year, I think there’s going to be a panic in farming communities,” Zhuang said.

Herbicide challenges expected to linger

Unfortunately, the availability of certain products is likely going to be “challenged” into at least the middle of 2022, according to Andy Biancardi, a Salinas-based sales manager at Wilbur-Ellis, an international marketer and distributor of agricultural products and chemicals. Biancardi said that the suppliers he talks to are advising people to make preparations.

The supply of glyphosate, the key component in products such as RoundUp (used by many Midwestern farmers), appears to be most affected, Biancardi said. As a result, that shortage has put the squeeze on alternatives such as glufosinate, used in products like Rely – the herbicide favored by many California grape growers.
“The cost of glufosinate has definitely gone up because there just isn’t enough, so everyone is obviously marking it up,” said Biancardi, who estimates that prices for both glyphosate and glufosinate are up 25% to 30% for growers.

“And that’s if you can get it,” he added.

Alvarado said that while large commercial operations are able to pay the premium prices or shift to other weed control measures, some smaller growers have essentially given up the fight – simply letting the weeds take over.
“They’re just letting it go wild until the dormant season,” she said. “They’re hoping that – by when they do start to spray [around March] – they’ll hopefully have that Rely.”

Silver lining to supply crisis?

Large-scale growers and retailers are buying up those scarcer products when they can, in anticipation of future shortages during critical times. Biancardi said that while his company traditionally runs inventories down at the end of the season, they are instead stocking up on herbicides that customers will demand.
“Careful planning and forecasting is going to be more important than ever, that’s really the key,” he said. “At this point we can’t guarantee ‘business as usual,’ based on what we’re hearing.”

Shaking off old habits might actually bring some benefits to business, according to Alvarado, as a forced shift away from chemicals could prove to be a selling point for customers, from a sustainability and marketing standpoint.

“Out of this shortage, there might be some good, some wins,” she said, “but at the same time, we’re going to need some answers – I think it’s going to be a bumpy road.”

Calling the confluence of drought, record heat and a shortage of chemicals a “perfect storm,” Zhuang said that consumers could start feeling those jolts as well.

“Eventually, somebody is going to eat the costs – either the farming community or the consumer is going to eat the cost, I hate to say it,” he said.

California Ag Today2021-12-20T15:42:14-08:00December 20th, 2021|

Of Course, Consuming Nuts is Good For Health

Nuts are Good For Your Health, But it Took a While For the Medical Industry to Say So!

By Patrick Cavanaugh with the Ag Information Network

Do you remember when consuming nuts was not good for you? The medical industry had it all wrong. Richard Waycott is President and CEO of the Almond Board of California, he said the journey to get the truth took a while.

“It was a journey that took about 20 years and we started down it, not really knowing, like most research, you don’t know what you necessarily are going to get,” said Waycott. “Fortunately, the focus both for Almonds and walnuts was on cholesterol and heart health, and we were able to have redundant trials, clinical trials, published in the papers that revealed that, yes, indeed increasing almond consumption does help with cholesterol.”

And that it reduced the bad cholesterol and increased the good cholesterol. “So, that was our first stake in the ground, and we’ve just built on that,” noted Waycott.

And that’s all part of a major priority with the Almond Board and that’s investing in good health research. “We invest every year, COVID, sort of got in the way a little bit because the clinical trials, but upwards are $3 million a year on clinical trials, they’re not cheap, and they usually take multiple years to accomplish and then you got to get published,” Waycott noted. “That’s definitely a foundation of the Almond Board’s work.”

And in further evidence, according to the largest study of its kind, people who ate a daily handful of nuts were 20% less likely to die from any cause over a 30-year period than those who didn’t consume nuts.

California Ag Today2021-12-17T07:44:47-08:00December 17th, 2021|

Strawberries Are A Big Fresh Market Crop

Strawberries Are A big Crop in California

From the end of September through the end of October, strawberries are planted and harvesting occurs from mid- December through mid-July in Ventura County, which produces more than 27 percent of the state’s strawberries. The peak harvesting season in California runs from April through June, when up to 10 million pint baskets of strawberries are shipped daily.

The largest producing state, California harvests 83% of the strawberries grown in the U.S. on approximately 24,500 acres. And with about 5,000 commercial acres, Florida is the second largest producing state. Ideal temperature for strawberry plants should not exceed higher than 78 degrees or lower than 55 degrees.

Every strawberry plant is hand-picked approximately every three days. This is the time in which it takes for strawberries to complete their cycle of turning from green to white to red. There is no storage of fresh strawberries. After picking, they are rushed to coolers where huge fans extract the field heat. Then they are delivered to supermarkets across the country via refrigerated trucks.

Strawberries are the largest available fresh fruit source for vitamin C. Frozen strawberries are America’s largest available frozen fruit source of vitamin C. Versatile and nutritious strawberries are easy to include in school meals and snacks. Low in calories and sugar, strawberries are packed with vitamin C and antioxidants, helping to boost immunity and brain health.

California Ag Today2021-12-16T07:42:03-08:00December 16th, 2021|

FDA Postpones Water Rule in Produce

FDA Postpones Produce Safety Rule Water Compliance for Farms and Releases New Proposed Changes

From the Western Agricultural Processors Association

The Association was notified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about today’s announcement on postponing FSMA’s Produce Safety Rule water compliance requirements, subpart E, which was set to begin in January 2022. The agency intends to exercise enforcement discretion for the agricultural water requirements for covered produce while the proposing changes to the current water requirements.

The proposed rule that would revise subpart E of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule to change certain pre-harvest agricultural water requirements for covered produce other than sprouts. Key provisions in the proposed rule include:

A requirement for farms to manage their agricultural water quality based on the results of a comprehensive systems assessment (“agricultural water assessment”) that is adaptable to the wide variety of water sources and uses and future scientific advancements.

An annual assessment by farms of their pre-harvest agricultural water to identify any conditions likely to introduce hazards into, or onto, covered produce or food contact surfaces. Based on these assessments, farms would then determine whether corrective or mitigation measures are reasonably necessary to reduce the potential for contamination. The assessment would include an evaluation of the farm’s water system, agricultural water use practices, crop characteristics, environmental conditions and other relevant factors, such as the results of any testing conducted to inform the assessment.

A requirement that farms implement expedited mitigation measures for hazards related to certain activities associated with adjacent and nearby lands, to protect the quality of the water used on produce. This is being included following several recent outbreak investigations on produce that revealed potential routes of contamination including activities and conditions, such as animal grazing and the presence of livestock and wildlife on land adjacent to, or near, produce farms or their water sources.

The removal of certain testing requirements for pre-harvest agricultural water and replacing them with the agricultural water assessments identified above. The proposed revisions are intended to address stakeholder concerns about complexity and practical implementation challenges while protecting public health.

California Ag Today2021-12-14T16:53:49-08:00December 14th, 2021|

Big Research Funds Continue to Fight Huanglongbing Disease

$7 Million Multi-State Research Project Targets Citrus Threat HLB

UC ANR part of team led by Texas A&M AgriLife combating Huanglongbing disease

By Mike Hsu UCANR Senior Public Information Representative

Citrus greening, or huanglongbing disease (HLB), is the most devastating disease for orange and grapefruit trees in the U.S. Prevention and treatment methods have proven elusive, and a definitive cure does not exist.

Since HLB was detected in Florida in 2005, Florida’s citrus production has fallen by 80%. Although there have been no HLB positive trees detected in commercial groves in California, more than 2,700 HLB positive trees have been detected on residential properties in the greater Los Angeles region.

“It is likely only a matter of time when the disease will spread to commercial fields, so our strategy in California is to try to eradicate the insect vector of the disease, Asian citrus psyllid,” said Greg Douhan, University of California Cooperative Extension citrus advisor for Tulare, Fresno and Madera counties.

Now, a public-private collaborative effort across Texas, California, Florida and Indiana will draw on prior successes in research and innovation to advance new, environmentally friendly and commercially viable control strategies for huanglongbing.

Led by scientists from Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the team includes three UC Agriculture and Natural Resources experts: Douhan; Sonia Rios, UCCE subtropical horticulture advisor for Riverside and San Diego counties; and Ben Faber, UCCE advisor for Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

$7 million USDA project

The $7 million, four-year AgriLife Research project is part of an $11 million suite of grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, NIFA, to combat HLB. The coordinated agricultural project is also a NIFA Center of Excellence.

“Through multistate, interdisciplinary collaborations among universities, regulatory affairs consultants, state and federal agencies, and the citrus industry, we will pursue advanced testing and commercialization of promising therapies and extend outcomes to stakeholders,” said lead investigator Kranthi Mandadi, an AgriLife Research scientist at Weslaco and associate professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The UC ANR members of this collaboration will be responsible for sharing findings from the research with local citrus growers across Southern California, the desert region, the coastal region and the San Joaquin Valley.

“In addition to the ground-breaking research that will be taking place, this project will also help us continue to generate awareness and outreach and share the advancements taking place in the research that is currently being done to help protect California’s citrus industry,” said Rios, the project’s lead principal investigator in California.

Citrus trees in Florida suffer from HLB infection

Other institutions on the team include Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center, University of Florida, Southern Gardens Citrus, Purdue University and USDA Agricultural Research Service.

“This collaboration is an inspiring example of how research, industry, extension and outreach can create solutions that benefit everyone,” said Patrick J. Stover, vice chancellor of Texas A&M AgriLife, dean of the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

HLB solutions must overcome known challenges

An effective HLB treatment must avoid numerous pitfalls, Mandadi explained.

One major problem is getting a treatment to the infected inner parts of the tree. The disease-causing bacteria only infect a network of cells called the phloem, which distributes nutrients throughout a tree. Starved of nutrients, infected trees bear low-quality fruits and have shortened lifespans.

Treatments must reach the phloem to kill the bacteria. So, spraying treatments on leaves has little chance of success because citrus leaves’ waxy coating usually prevents the treatments from penetrating.

Second, while the bacteria thrive in phloem, they do not grow in a petri dish. Until recently, scientists wishing to test treatments could only do so in living trees, in a slow and laborious process.

Third, orange and grapefruit trees are quite susceptible to the disease-causing bacteria and do not build immunity on their own. Strict quarantines are in place. Treatments must be tested in groves that are already infected.

Two types of potential HLB therapies will be tested using novel technologies

The teams will be working to advance two main types of treatment, employing technologies they’ve developed in the past to overcome the problems mentioned above.

First, a few years ago, Mandadi and his colleagues discovered a way to propagate the HLB-causing bacteria in the lab. This method involves growing the bacteria in tiny, root-like structures developed from infected trees. The team will use this so-called “hairy roots” method to screen treatments much faster than would be possible in citrus trees.

In these hairy roots, the team will test short chains of amino acids – peptides – that make spinach naturally resistant to HLB. After initial testing, the most promising spinach peptides will undergo testing in field trees. To get these peptides to the phloem of a tree, their gene sequences will be engineered into a special, benign citrus tristeza virus vector developed at the University of Florida. The citrus tristeza virus naturally resides in the phloem and can deliver the peptides where they can be effective.

“Even though a particular peptide may have efficacy in the lab, we won’t know if it will be expressed in sufficient levels in a tree and for enough time to kill the bacteria,” Mandadi said. “Viruses are smart, and sometimes they throw the peptide out. Field trials are crucial.”

The second type of treatment to undergo testing is synthetic or naturally occurring small molecules that may kill HLB-causing bacteria. Again, Mandadi’s team will screen the molecules in hairy roots. A multistate team will further test the efficacy of the most promising molecules by injecting them into trunks of infected trees in the field.

A feasible HLB treatment is effective and profitable

Another hurdle to overcome is ensuring that growers and consumers accept the products the team develops.

“We have to convince producers that the use of therapies is profitable and consumers that the fruit from treated trees would be safe to eat,” Mandadi said.

Therefore, a multistate economics and marketing team will conduct studies to determine the extent of economic benefits to citrus growers. In addition, a multistate extension and outreach team will use diverse outlets to disseminate project information to stakeholders. This team will also survey growers to gauge how likely they are to try the treatments.

“The research team will be informed by those surveys,” Mandadi said. “We will also engage a project advisory board of representatives from academia, universities, state and federal agencies, industry, and growers. While we are doing the science, the advisory board will provide guidance on both the technical and practical aspects of the project.”

Project team members:

—Kranthi Mandadi, Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

—Mike Irey, Southern Gardens Citrus, Florida.

—Choaa El-Mohtar, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Citrus Research and Education Center.

—Ray Yokomi, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Parlier, California.

—Ute Albrecht, University of Florida IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center.

—Veronica Ancona, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center.

—Freddy Ibanez-Carrasco, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Department of Entomology, Weslaco.

—Sonia Irigoyen, AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco.

—Ariel Singerman, University of Florida IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center.

—Jinha Jung, Purdue University, Indiana.

—Juan Enciso, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Weslaco.

—Samuel Zapata, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Department of Agricultural Economics, Weslaco.

—Olufemi Alabi, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Weslaco.

—Sonia Rios, University of California Cooperative Extension, Riverside and San Diego counties.

—Ben Faber, University of California Cooperative Extension, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

—Greg Douhan, University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare, Fresno and Madera counties.

California Ag Today2021-12-06T13:51:10-08:00December 6th, 2021|

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

California Ag News…
At Your Fingertips!