Composting Helps Soils, and Reduce Irrigation Needs

Compost for Climate Resilient Salinas Valley

 

Climate change is not a future threat to the Central Coast region. The region is experiencing it now and the effects are predicted to continue to intensify.

“Symptoms of climate change including increased temperatures, wildfire intensity, storm anomalies and sea water intrusion into ground water aquifers are dramatically impacting the production of specialty crops that are important and grown in the region such as cool season vegetables,” Laura Murphy, Resource Conservation District Monterey County.

Laura Murphy

“The soils of the Salinas Valley and surrounding regions are one of the most important resources we have. Protecting them against a changing climate is critical to the future of the region. Recycling organic materials back into agriculture as compost is a solution,” explained Murphy.

Adapting to these changes in the climate requires a change in farming practices. Improving the health of the soil is one way to adapt and mitigate some of the most important harmful impacts to protect both the economic and ecological viability of the region. “Climate-smart soil management acknowledges the important role of soil in providing climate mitigation options and aims to foster co-benefits such as greenhouse gas reduction, soil carbon sequestration and farm resiliency to the extreme weather and drought conditions,” said Murphy.

“Implementing conservation practices in intensively managed vegetable production systems has always been difficult, but the application of compost can provide producers with very much needed flexibility to increase conservation goals and simultaneously develop farm resiliency to the symptoms of climate change,” noted Murphy.  “Increasing soil organic matter has numerous benefits, including increased water holding capacity, improved nutrient cycling and plant nutrient availability, diversifying and enhancing soil biological life and increasing carbon sequestration. These benefits of increased soil organic matter can lead to crop benefits including reduced irrigation demands, increased nutrient use efficiency and stabilized yields,” she said.

Beginning in 2022, California’s new state mandate, SB 1383, essentially eliminates organic materials from being landfilled to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and divert edible food for human consumption. “Diverting organic waste from landfills through composting not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector but also allows for nutrients to be cycled back into managed landscapes,” said Darlene Ruiz, with Salinas Valley Recycles.

Darlene Ruiz

“Compost is a stable nutrient-rich amendment that consists of a variety of organic materials that have gone through a heating and curing treatment process to be stabilized for use in agricultural production. Understanding the importance of protecting the public, each batch of compost produced undergoes a process to reduce pathogens, or PFRP, which requires piles to reach 131 degrees Fahrenheit for 72 hours, effectively eliminating harmful pathogens,” noted Ruiz. “Extra testing for human pathogens such as E. Coli and salmonella, ensures that the product is safe to use on crops that will be consumed fresh, such as lettuce. Documentation of these tests are available upon request,” she explained.

Compost is made by carefully mixing feed stocks of different carbon and nitrogen-rich materials. At the Johnson Canyon organics facility, state-of-the-art technology called ASP, or Aerated Static Pile, composting is used to create a consistent thermal treatment of the material. “Daily record-keeping of times and temperatures are required by local permits and state regulations and can be made available upon request,” said Andrew Tuckman, with Vision Recycling.

Andrew Tuckman

“After going through the heating process the material is allowed to cool and cure, enlivening it with beneficial microbial life and stabilizing it for sale. Transporting and spreading can be a sustainable component of the cost of purchasing material. It’s recommended that you discuss this with the composter and plan ahead,” he said.

With growers under increasing pressure to limit the application of nitrogen fertilizer due to potential harmful impacts to public and ecological health, compost application can help build soil nutrient reserves which results in a maintenance of significant proportions of crop demand while complying with water quality regulations. “Incorporating organic amendments into nutrient management plans can help reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers and improve soil conditions for future crops. Understanding soil nitrate levels is one of the most important actions growers can take to limit nitrogen loss,” said Carlos Rodriguez-Lopez, UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County.

Carlos Rodriguez-Lopez

Using the soil nitrate quick test or other soil nitrogen testing methods before compost applications can help when choosing products. The carbon to nitrogen ratio of compost can be an important indicator of whether applications will retain nitrogen or release it for further uptake.

“At times, nutrient managers may want to immobilize nutrients and at other times, make them available,” said Rodriguez-Lopez. “Application timing can vary depending on management objectives. Either late in the fall, before winter rains, early spring or in between crops after the summer fallow. Application rates can also vary. Rates that are aimed at maintenance of soil organic matter may, after multiple applications, be as low as 4 to 5 tons per acre,” he said.

“If land is critically low in soil organic matter, higher rates of 10 plus tons per acre may be appropriate. No one recommendation fits all. Each field and crop location is different requiring unique approaches,” explained Rodriguez-Lopez.

2021-08-16T16:32:14-07:00August 16th, 2021|

Study: Cannabis Growers’ Irrigation May Affect Nearby Streams

Cannabis Farms Irrigating with Groundwater May Affect Stream Flows

 

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

 

The legalization of marijuana for recreational use in California has encouraged growers to expand plantings of the lucrative crop. Like any plant, cannabis requires water to grow. A new study from the Cannabis Research Center at UC Berkeley examined where cannabis growers in California are getting water for their crops, highlighting significant gaps in cannabis cultivation policy.

Environmental advocates have expressed concern that cannabis farms are diverting water from rivers and streams, which could harm fish and other wildlife.

The researchers studied water use in 11 of the state’s top cannabis-producing counties – Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Monterey, Nevada, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Trinity, and Yolo.

Is cannabis production causing harm to fish in rivers and streams?

Using California state cannabis permitting data, the researchers found that cannabis farms rely primarily on groundwater wells, not streams, for their irrigation needs. But pumping groundwater could also have an undesirable effect on wildlife.

“Wells drilled near streams in upland watersheds have the potential to cause rapid streamflow depletion similar to direct surface water diversions,” said co-author Ted Grantham, UC Cooperative Extension specialist and co-director of the Cannabis Research Center.

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, enacted in 2014, is designed to prevent overdraft of groundwater and protect water quality and supplies for agriculture, residents, fish and other wildlife.

But according to Grantham, “Most of the cannabis farms fall outside of the groundwater basins regulated under SGMA, so well use represents an important, but largely unregulated threat to streams in the region.”

The researchers found that well use by cannabis farms is common statewide, exceeding 75% among farms that have permits to grow in nine of the 11 top cannabis-producing counties. In eight of the 11 counties, more than one-quarter of farms using wells are located outside of groundwater basins subject to state groundwater use regulations. Farms growing larger acreages of cannabis pumped more groundwater for irrigation, while farms with on-farm streams or located in areas that receive more rainfall were less reliant on wells

The study relied on water-source data only for cannabis farms that have state permits to grow.

Based on models, the researchers estimate the majority (60%) of unregulated Northern California cannabis farms in Humboldt and Mendocino counties are likely to use groundwater wells if they follow the same patterns as the regulated industry.

“Our results suggest that proactive steps be taken to address groundwater use in cannabis regulations in California and call for further research into the effects of groundwater use on streamflow, especially outside of large groundwater basins,” write the authors.

2021-08-12T12:23:58-07:00August 12th, 2021|

The Truth: Plants do not USE water….The plants Borrow water

Plants Transpire Most of the Water They Use!

Editor’s note: California Ag Today interviewed Allan Fulton, an Irrigation and Water Resources Advisor, UC Cooperative Extension Tehama County, in Redbluff CA, to comment on the debate about the agricultural industry’s use of water and to focus on a critical but disregarded process—that all plants transpire, even plants cultivated for the crops we eat.

CalAgToday: We hear in the media that our crops are using too much water. And while all plants need water to grow food, we also know that a high percentage of water taken up by all plants actually transpires back into the atmosphere, to form clouds and precipitation, right?

Fulton: Yes, when plants transpire, the water just returns to the local hydrologic cycle, leaving the harvested crop that we distribute elsewhere in the US or in the world actually very low in water content.

CalAgToday: When we think about transpiration, are the plants actually “borrowing” the water?

Fulton: Yes. We get a lot of questions about why we irrigate our crops so much, and it comes from the general public not being as close to farming every day. The truth is, plant transpiration is a necessary biological process. The water cools the tree so it stays healthy and exits the leaves through special cells called stomata. While the stomates are open to allow water to transpire, carbon dioxide enters and is used in photosynthesis, making sugars and carbohydrates for the plant to create the fruits and nuts that we eat. So, an inadequately watered plant cannot take in enough carbon dioxide during transpiration, resulting in defective fruits and nuts that are smaller, shriveled, cracked—all the things the typical consumer does not want to buy.

Plants cannot gain carbon dioxide without simultaneously losing water vapor.[1]

CalAgToday: Can we say 95 or 99% of the water that is taken up by the plant gets transpired and definitely not wasted?

Fulton: Definitely. We converted to pressurized irrigation systems, micro-sprinklers, and mini sprinklers, so we have a lot more control over how much water we apply at any one time. We do not put water out in acre-feet or depths of 4-6 inches at a time anymore. So, much like when rainfall occurs, we can measure it in tenths, or 1 or 2 inches at most. As a result, the water doesn’t penetrate the soil very deeply, maybe only 1 or 2 feet each irrigation.

We are very efficient with the water, but because we deliver it in small doses, we have to irrigate very frequently. That is why we see irrigation systems running a lot, but they are systems that efficiently stretch our water supply and do not waste it.

CalAgToday: But again, the vast majority of the water that the tree is taking up is being transpired, right?

Fulton: Yes, most of the time, at least 90% of the water that we apply is taken up through the tree and transpired so that photosynthesis can happen.UCCE Tehama County

CalAgToday: And transpiration increases on a hot day?

Fulton: Yes, we do get a little bit of loss from surface evaporation from wet soil, but we try to control that with smaller wetting patterns—drip-confined wetting patterns. When you think about it, the heat of the day is in the afternoon when many irrigation systems don’t run because of higher energy costs. There are incentives not to pump in the middle of the afternoon, but those who do try to confine the wetted area to limit evaporation. And the hot hours of the day make up about 4 hours of a 24-hour cycle, so we irrigate mostly during the night time and early morning hours to lesson evaporative loss.

CalAgToday: Growers are doing everything they can to conserve water. If the trees and vines are all transpiring most of their irrigated water, why is using water to grow food a problem?

Fulton: I think the emphasis throughout the United States has always been to provide a secure food supply. That security has many benefits, economically and politically; and in the end, we are trying to provide the general public with good quality, safe food at the best price possible.

______________________________________________

[1]  Debbie Swarthout and C.Michael Hogan. 2010. Stomata. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC.

CIMIS

 

The California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) is a program unit in the Water Use and Efficiency Branch, Division of Statewide Integrated Water Management, California Department of Water Resources (DWR) that manages a network of over 145 automated weather stations in California. CIMIS was developed in 1982 by DWR and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). It was designed to assist irrigators in managing their water resources more efficiently. Efficient use of water resources benefits Californians by saving water, energy, and money.

The CIMIS user base has expanded over the years. Currently, there are over 40,000 registered CIMIS data users, including landscapers, local water agencies, firefighters, air control board, pest control managers, university researchers, school teachers, students, construction engineers, consultants, hydrologists, government agencies, utilities, lawyers, weather agencies, and many more.

2021-08-04T18:34:08-07:00August 4th, 2021|

Fruits, Vegetables and Nuts Ward off Chronic Diseases

USDA’S Vilsack: Eating More Fruits and Vegetables for Better Health

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor, CaliforniaAgToday

At the recent virtual Forbes Thrive Future of Food summit, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke about encouraging all people to eat better—even those we trade with.

“We’re trying to figure out ways in which we can educate consumers about the benefits of a particular kind of product, whether it’s dairy or whether it’s potatoes or whether it’s peppers or whatever it is,” said Vilsack.  “And making sure that people understand that we’re growing demand at the same time we’re trying to do a trade relationship. I think that’s one way of lessening the tension and encouraging more of these restrictive practices that make it more difficult for trade to take place.”

In this country, making sure that we understand, we collectively have to consume more of these fruits and vegetables if we’re really going to get on the other side of a serious obesity issue. “More than 70% of Americans today, adults, are overweight or obese. And 60% of us have chronic diseases, most of which are connected to diet. 40% of us have 2 or more chronic diseases,” noted Vilsack.

“The health care costs of this are enormous and the lack of productivity, as a result, is also troublesome,” said Vilsack. “And we have 18 and 1/2% of our youngsters who are obese today and a significant percentage of them are overweight who will take into adulthood those same chronic diseases, that same productivity challenge. So it’s in our best interest for us to figure out that my plate, with 1/2 our plate being fruits and vegetables, that’s building demand in the United States. And obviously, if you build demand, you have to have supply and the supply can come from lots of different places,” noted Vilsack.

2021-08-03T09:37:56-07:00August 3rd, 2021|

Citrus Pest/Disease Program Continues

CPDPC and CPDPP Continuation Approved

By order of the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program (CPDPP) and the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Committee (CPDPC) have been authorized to continue conducting activities for another four years.

This decision comes as a result of requirements set in place by the Food and Agricultural Code, Section 5921, which requires the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Division to hold public hearings every four years to determine whether the operation of this article should be continued. Following the hearings held in May and June 2021, Secretary Karen Ross determined the program and committee have adequately met their purpose and obligations to the public and the citrus industry and also encouraged the CPDPC to continue to look for process improvements and efficiencies to best serve the California citrus industry.

If you’re interested in learning more about the CPDPP and CPDPC, please visit the About section of Citrus Insider.

2021-08-02T18:08:20-07:00August 2nd, 2021|

Rep. Harder Funds Almond Biocarbon Program

Almond Alliance Commends Rep. Harder for FARM Act funding for Pilot Programs to Produce Biocarbon

The Almond Alliance of California today commended Rep. Josh Harder (C-10) for including funding to support ten nationwide pilot programs to convert tree nut by-products into biocarbon products in the Future of Agricultural Resiliency and Modernization (FARM) Act.

Almond Alliance President Elaine Trevino explained that in California the funding will help accelerate efforts to develop new biofuels or other biocarbon products derived from almond harvest by-products.  For example, in a process called “pyrolysis” almond harvest by-products can produce biochar, a soil amendment with excellent carbon sequestration potential and syngas and bio-oils, which can be used directly to fire furnaces or more importantly as inputs to produce motor vehicle biofuels and other biochemicals.

Trevino commented, “California’s almond growers are proud to be innovators who remain focused on sustainability and are constantly looking to put everything we grow to its highest and best use.  We expect that biofuels produced using California Grown almond by-products will become a major contributor towards meeting California’s carbon neutral goals.  We appreciate Congressman Harder’s ongoing support of almond growers and especially his inclusion of funding for pilot projects in the FARM Act that will catalyze development of climate-friendly biocarbon and biofuel products.”

2021-07-29T11:09:24-07:00July 29th, 2021|

Study: New Fumigation Stategy

New Fumigation Techniques for Soilborne Diseases

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

Protecting fruit from soilborne pathogens is a big concern for strawberry growers. Researchers at the University of California Ag and Natural Resources are looking to see if a drip application of fungicides might be effective, noted UC Cooperative Extension advisor in entomology and biologicals, Surendra Dara.

“This particular study was based on a request from FMC. They wanted to evaluate if drip application of some fungicides could be supplemental to whatever the growers are currently following to control soilborne diseases. And they also wanted to see if it has any impact on improving the crop health, and potentially other diseases,” said Dara.

Dara noted the results from the first trial were positive, but he didn’t see enough incidence of soilborne disease in the control group to be sure. He’s optimistic though, given drip application of fungicides has been effective on other plant pathogens.

“They do apply fungicides to drip, but not necessarily for soilborne diseases. The management practices are usually obtaining clean transplants and fumigating or crop rotation. These are the typical management recommendations for soil-borne diseases,” explained Dara.

Dara hopes to continue to study the potential for this management practice.

2021-07-23T21:22:40-07:00July 22nd, 2021|

Center for Land-Based Learning Gets Big Grant

Center for Land-based Learning Awarded $25,000 Bank of America Grant

Grant will support General Operating Funds for the Growing Non-profit

 

Bank of America has awarded $25,000 to the Center for Land-Based Learning, based in Woodland, to support General Operating Funds for the growing non-profit.

Bank of America has long been a supporter of the Center’s work, with previous grants funding its Green Corps program and a multi-year Neighborhood Builder project. The current funding undergirds the Center’s mission to inspire, educate, and cultivate future generations of farmers, agricultural leaders, and natural resource stewards, through educational programming, job creation, and workforce development efforts.

Lori A. Rianda, Senior Vice President and Local Market Executive for Bank of America Greater Sacramento, remarked of the partnership, “The work that Center for Land-Based Learning does in our community around workforce development within the ag industry and environmental stewardship is truly impactful. We are pleased to partner with CLBL, a true model for what an effective, sustainable community-based organization should be.”

This grant, in providing General Operating Support to the Center, would directly support Workforce Development, specifically through the FARMS Program and California Farm Academy. The Center directly engages in job creation through the internship portion of the FARMS Program, aimed at helping youth ages 16 through 24 to enter the fields of agriculture and natural resource stewardship. The Center also partners with local partners to create and manage paid internships for youth interested in entering these fields professionally.

Mary Kimball, CEO of the Center for Land-Based Learning, expressed her appreciation for the support: “We are thrilled to be funded by the Bank of America Foundation again through this grant. We value our long-term partnership and the investment that the foundation makes in the economic and social well-being of our region through its philanthropic giving.”

2021-07-21T16:59:44-07:00July 21st, 2021|

Converting Food Waste Into Energy

Food Power per Hour

Food Waste Now Generating Power in Many US Cities

 

Considering that 795 million people around the world go hungry on any given day, it is shocking that many of us throw away food on a daily basis. In fact, one-third of all food produced globally goes to waste each year, amounting to 1.3 billion tons of wasted food with a value exceeding $1 trillion. According to a recently published report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), global hunger could be alleviated if just 25 percent of the food wasted each year was saved instead.

 

While food loss along the production line is a large contributor to waste in developing countries, in developed countries, food wastage tends to occur after it reaches the supermarket. This wastage is driven by affluent consumers who stock up their refrigerators with far more food than they can possibly eat before the recommended “best-by” dates. As a result, a large portion of uneaten food is discarded and simply replaced with even more food (which may later go uneaten).

The amount of food wasted varies from city to city, and with only nine of the top 25 most populated cities mandating food waste legislation, there is a lot of room for improvement. The good news: We do have cities leading the effort to reduce food waste across the country.

California has recently introduced a Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling law that requires all businesses to recycle their organic waste. CalRecycle has online resources that help consumers manage food waste, and it has been conducting workshops in support of a newly proposed Food Waste Prevention Grant Program.

As part of its Zero Waste Initiative, the City of Austin, Texas, recently voted unanimously for a city ordinance that requires all large restaurants (over 5,000 square feet) to separate compostable waste from other waste material.The Home Composting Rebate Program offers consumers a $75 rebate on a home composting system after attending a free composting class.

Businesses in New York City have also heeded the call of a Zero Waste Challenge. Restaurants composted organic waste, trained chefs to improve meal planning, reduced the amount of food produced after peak periods, and donated surplus food to an NGO that provides meals to the city’s homeless shelters. The 31 businesses that participated in the challenge collectively diverted 37,000 tons of waste by increasing recycling efforts, composting over 24,500 tons of organic material, and donating 322 tons of food. Additionally, in July 2016 the city mandated Business Organic Waste program, where qualified business are required to separate their organic waste for composting.

Every year the average person in North America may waste around 231 pounds of food, which if converted to energy, could power a 100 watt light bulb for two weeks. If you extrapolate that for the entire U.S. population, it represents a lot of energy that could be saved right there.

A country with a population of 319 million could waste as much as 74 billion pounds of food a year, which if saved could result in tremendous energy savings that could be put to much better use. But to reduce food waste, these savings need to be implemented from the bottom up rather than the top down, starting in individual homes and businesses in towns, cities, and states across the country. If each and every household and business made a concerted effort to reduce food waste, the collective savings regarding energy would be huge.

 

For more information visit https://www.saveonenergy.com/food-power-per-hour/

 

 

 

2021-07-20T11:00:30-07:00July 15th, 2021|

Westlands: New Drought Affect Life in SJV

Five Things to Know About the Drought

 

From Westlands Water District

 

Every person who lives or works in Westlands Water District’s service area knows that California is facing yet another year of drought. We not only read and hear about it in the news, but we see it every single day in the fallowed fields around us. We feel it when we walk through the communities, like Mendota, Huron and Avenal. Drought conditions are affecting life in a very tangible way, especially here in the San Joaquin Valley.

 

There’s no doubt that the lack of water is having a negative impact on families and communities across the region. Westlands is working hard to collaborate with local, state, and federal partners to reduce the negative impacts of the drought. Here are five things – among many others – Westlands is doing to try to improve the short-term water supplies and advance long-term water reliability policies:

 

  1. Easing water purchases and transfers

Current drought conditions mean there just isn’t enough water to meet every demand. Not only have all south-of-Delta agricultural repayment and water service contractors had their Central Valley Project allocation reduced to 0 percent, but even municipal and industrial water users have been reduced to 25 percent of historic use. Water levels at lakes and reservoirs around the state are at historic lows.

 

At times like these, water purchases and transfers are critically important to support the communities and farms in the San Joaquin Valley. During drought, its essential to ensure that farmers receive sufficient water to meet their essential activities in order to sustain the community and the food people need. Westlands is working hard to purchase water, and to ensure that the water is available to the farmers in the District when they need it. That means working collaboratively with local, state, and federal partners, including regulators, to make it as easy as possible to move water as soon as possible.

 

  1. Groundwater stewardship

The farmers in Westlands have a long legacy of being good stewards of local groundwater resources – in fact, Westlands was formed, in part, because of concern with the groundwater aquifer underlying Westlands, with a focus on monitoring groundwater conditions. Farmers in Westlands have long known that groundwater management was critically important to the long-term viability of the region. The farmers’ and Westlands’ commitment to being thoughtful about groundwater use continues – not only because we’re now required to under the provisions of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) but also because it’s the right thing to do to protect local aquifers.

 

  1. Supporting major infrastructure investments

The water infrastructure system that brings water to Westlands has suffered from decades of inadequate funding. There has been inadequate investment in new storage to keep up with increased social demands and climate change patterns. The inadequate storage facilities are unable to store sufficient water in the wet periods to sustain the San Joaquin communities in the dry years. There has also been inadequate investment in our conveyance system, which, as a result, has lost carrying capacity. This lost capacity means it costs more energy and money to move less water today than it did just years ago.

 

In pursuit of improved water infrastructure, the District is proud to support companion state and federal legislation designed to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in much-needed funding to help make necessary upgrades to our state’s major water infrastructure. We also have continually advocated for projects that can help increase above and below ground storage, such as the District’s Pasajero Recharge Project, to help improve water reliability during dry years.

 

  1. Implementing Voluntary Agreements

The Voluntary Agreements (VAs) – an effort started by then-Governor Jerry Brown and maintained by Governor Gavin Newsom – is aimed at protecting and restoring the Bay-Delta ecosystem while improving reliability for the 35 million people, nearly 8 million acres of farmland, and hundreds of thousands of acres of California wetlands that depend on the Sacramento-San Joaquin watershed.

 

Westlands is among a broad coalition that  supports adoption and implementation of the VAs, which represent a 15 year science-based strategy that provides the resources needed to address the multiple factors that impair the ability of the Sacramento-San Joaquin watershed to serve the many needs California places on it.

Solar

Solar Project in the San Joaquin Valley

  1. Farming the sun

Westlands and farmers within Westlands recognize the value of solar energy development, which not only helps California reach its carbon-free energy goals and mitigate impacts of climate change, but it also gives “new” value to agriculture land. There’s already more than 700 MW of operational solar energy in the Westlands footprint – enough electricity to power approximately 130,000 homes. Westlands and the farmers within Westlands are often considering or pursing new solar projects.

 

The reality of our changing climate means that droughts may become even more frequent. Westlands is continually working to proactively to ensure the investments are made to reduce climate and drought impacts – not only this year but for many years to come.

 

 

2021-07-07T13:25:42-07:00July 7th, 2021|
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