The inaugural Global Food Systems Research Day, held Oct. 24 at UC Davis, underscored the role of scientists in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences in the effort to build sustainable agricultural and distribution systems providing nutritious and affordable food to people all over the world.
The DH Putnam Scholarship Fund has launched with two inaugural awards given in honor of Daniel Putnam, professor emeritus of Cooperative Extension in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. The fund supports scientific research that benefits alfalfa production and use in California.
A new facility to be built east of the UC Davis campus highlights the partnership between the university – including the Department of Plant Sciences – and national agencies to confront challenges faced by consumers and the agriculture industry.
A new program is paving the way for a more diverse and innovative future in food and agriculture. The initiative at UC Davis will invite eight scholars who are first-generation college students and from underrepresented groups to participate in hands-on research, workshops and training. The program will help them develop leadership skills, build inclusive communities and share their unique experiences with peers.
Mitchell Feldmann, an assistant professor and genetics researcher, is the new director of the Strawberry Breeding Program, an internationally recognized public program that has released more than 70 patented cultivars over its storied history.
Representatives from organizations linked through the African Orphan Crops Consortium met in Kenya recently and planted a jackfruit tree, symbolizing their goal of building a world where food security and peace go hand in hand.
Steam treatment of soil offers growers a viable alternative to chemicals and a money-saver for organic farmers. It also benefits farm laborers by reducing their exposure to potential harm, said graduate student Erika Escalona. She is assessing the impacts on weeds, soil-borne disease and the soil biome of steam treatments used to disinfest lettuce and spinach fields in the Salinas Valley.
Long-term smoke exposure from massive wildfires lowers the energy reserves of orchard trees and can cut their nut production by half, researchers at the University of California, Davis, found. The smoke can affect trees for months after a megafire, depressing their bloom and the next season’s harvest.
A tractor-like machine rolled slowly over rows of carrots in a field near Salinas, Calif., spraying canola oil onto the weeds but sparing the small, tender carrot leaves. The device was one of many that showed new ways to manage weeds during the recent Automated Technology Field Day in Salinas. The equipment is being developed by companies here and around the world to confront a shortage of field labor, rising costs of labor and energy, and ever-fewer options for chemical treatment of weeds, fungus, insect pests and soil-borne threats.
“Olive: Production Manual for Oil” is a new book that aims to help California olive growers maximize that advantage. It has just been published by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Samjhana Khanal, a doctoral student studying disease resistance in lettuce, has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Schlumberger Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports science and technology education.
Researchers at the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences are leading a program to develop tools and resources to breed better beans faster. Their work is part of a larger effort to create new versions of the delicacy that will flourish in the United States.
Meet Clara, Shirley and Estelita. With thickly layered petals, varieties of texture and colors ranging from elegant peach to cactus orange to pastel pink, these zinnias were among the new varieties that debuted at a recent field day on the UC Davis campus.
A nation-wide project led by Charlie Brummer, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, has received a grant of $936,000 over the next three years from the Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Research Program, within the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Scientists are seeking the genetic basis for breeding new varieties of alfalfa that can withstand the pressures of climate change and evolving pests and disease.
Researchers offered some relief to rice farmers facing low prices for their crop, but record-high costs of production and hot temperatures during critical growth phases, describing trials of new herbicides and alternative cultivation methods during the Rice Field Day.
