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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
Valentina Roel Rezk was among graduate students from around the world who participated in a summer program seeking to shape future policy and research into circular food and agriculture systems. The program was put on by the Circular Food Systems Network, hosted by Wageningen University & Research, in the Netherlands.
Problems faced by agriculture amid climate change are closely intertwined with non-ag issues. Solutions often have downsides. We have to embrace the complexity, talk to each other, innovate, use technology and be flexible to find solutions that feed us without causing harm to people and while improving and protecting the environment.
Construction officially began on the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation with a groundbreaking event on May 29, celebrating the future $64.4 million facility at the University of California, Davis.
Restoration and resilience of California forests will benefit from the research of two graduate students whose projects have received state funding. Jennifer Cribbs and Nina Venuti are graduate students studying with Andrew Latimer, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences.
