Lettuce

New IPM App

Free Download of IPM Info App Now Available

Extending research information is a critical service of Cooperative Extension. Using modern technology and channels of communication is important to successfully convey that information to growers, PCAs, and other key players in the agriculture industry.

UC IPMInfo App Logo

Smartphone usage has become widespread and smartphone applications are becoming popular in agriculture as they provide quick and easy access to information, help growers monitor a diverse set of variables, and facilitate decision making. However, there have been no such applications to assist California strawberry and vegetable growers.

In an effort to provide simple access to important pest and disease information for various crops readily available to the agricultural industry , Surendra K. Dara, UC Cooperative Extension San Luis Obispo County, developed IPMinfo—the first IPM information app from University of California.

First released in December, 2014 and updated in April, 2015, this new IPM app is now available for free download for iPhones on App Store, featuring extensive pest and disease information generated by Dara’s strawberry and vegetable extension program. With one-touch access, agricultural professionals can learn the biology, symptoms of plant damage, and management options for pests and diseases.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:30:24-07:00May 15th, 2015|

AFT Research Shows Farmland Conservation can Reduce Greenhouse Gases

A new study from American Farmland Trust’s California Office, titled A New Comparison of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from California Agricultural and Urban Land Use [PDF], shows that urban land uses generate an average of 58 times more greenhouse gases per acre than the production of California’s leading crops.

This means that conserving farmland by preventing its development is an effective strategy for alleviating climate change. The AFT research, spearheaded by Steve Shaffer, AFT’s principal environmental consultant in California, found that emissions from seven crops grown on four million acres of the state’s farmland – including rice, tomatoes, lettuce, almonds, winegrapes, corn and alfalfa – averaged 0.89 tons of CO₂ equivalent per acre, while those from residential, commercial and industrial land uses in 13 California cities averaged 51 tons per acre.

“If California farmland conversion could be reduced by half (from 39,500 to 19,750 acres per year), within a decade we would avoid the emission of 55 million metric tons of greenhouse gases,” said Shaffer, “That’s equivalent to taking almost 200,000 cars off the road or driving around the Earth’s equator 5 million times,” he added, noting, “Of course, AFT would like to do even better than that.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:30:29-07:00February 25th, 2015|

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