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.
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.
Rangeland specialist Leslie Roche will bring her California ranching background to her new role on the board of directors of the Society for Range Management (SRM).
Reducing agricultural nitrogen (N) losses remains a key challenge in achieving more sustainable food systems. A recent global analysis by researchers at UC Davis and the Environmental Defense Fund quantified nitrate (NO3) leaching losses in agricultural fields in response to changes in N balance (N inputs minus N outputs). Led by Dr.
Giulia Marino, a crop physiologist, is the new UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Specialist in Orchard Systems, and a faculty member in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). She is primarily based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier, California, and has a second office in Wickson Hall at UC Davis.
Cameron Pittelkow is a new professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis. His expertise covers Agronomy and Agroecosystems, with a focus on sustainable crop production, management practices for high yields with low environmental footprints, and international agriculture.
Troy Magney, Dept. of Plant Sciences, is using methods such as hyperspectral imaging – a remote sensing technique – to measure plant water stress, nutrient status, biomass, and photosynthesis in order to make informed decisions about water and fertilizer management. This is important for global agriculture in the future.
Mars Wrigley, a segment of Mars, Inc., held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new research facility in Davis, California. The facility will continue the research partnership between Mars and UC Davis, addressing critical plant science issues such as plant genetics, global sustainability, climate change, and crop disease control.
