The people who produce our food need support -- especially in the areas of mental and physical well-being -- to recover from increasingly widespread wildfire, scientists have found. Postdoctoral researcher Natalia Pinzon Jimenez suggests the federal Farm Bill could help by funding programs for producers.
A scraggly grapevine collected in 1906 and stored at the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity Herbarium has yielded clues to when Pierce's disease arrived in California and how the bacterium that causes it has evolved since then. Scientists hope to use that information to prevent and, eventually, treat the deadly blight, which has spread to wine-growing regions around the world.
In hotter, drier areas where natural regeneration is weaker, well-timed tree planting can boost post-fire forest recovery by up to 200 percent, according to research by Andrew Latimer and Derek Young, in the Department of Plant Sciences.
California ranchers benefit when they plan ahead for extreme weather variability, according to rancher surveys and interviews conducted by a team headed by Leslie Roche, a professor of Cooperative Extension in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences.
Mohsen Mesgaran, at the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, and team are developing a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence to help growers, backyard gardeners, landowners and others identify and treat weeds. The state Department of Food and Agriculture is funding the project with a grant of nearly $430,000. The development is expected to take two years.
A team of scientists, including Gail Taylor of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, has identified a gene in poplar trees that enhances photosynthesis and can boost tree height by as much as 200 percent. Discovery of the “Booster” gene has enormous potential for both the nation’s efforts to create plant-based jet fuel and to boost the yield of key food crops.
Two scientists in the Department of Plant Sciences -- Eduardo Blumwald and Tom Buckley -- have been named “highly cited researchers” in the field of plant and animal science for 2024 by the citation index Web of Science, owned by Clarivate.
They are among nine UC Davis researchers named for 2024. The distinction is based on the frequency their published work is cited by other scientists, showing “significant and broad influence in their fields,” according to Clarivate.
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.
