1996-97 Research & Education Projects
SAREP Funds New Projects
by Claudette Cervinka, guest writer
Thirty-one research and education projects have been granted a
total of
$267,535 by UC SAREP in the 1996-97 funding cycle, according to
Bill
Liebhardt, SAREP director. New projects were chosen in four
areas:
production, community development and public policy, educational
events,
and graduate student awards. Additionally nine continuing
projects received
$81,539, bringing SAREP's total grant funding for 1996-97 to
$349,074.
Brief descriptions of the new projects, principal investigators
and amounts
awarded for the first year follow.
Production Projects
(12 projects; $150,767)
Steven Temple, Extension Agronomist, Agronomy
and Range Science, UC Davis,
"The Transition from Conventional to Low-Input or Organic
Farming Systems:
Soil Biology, Soil Chemistry, Soil Physics, Energy Utilization,
Economics
and Risk": $45,661 for first year in another four-year
cycle. The
Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems (SAFS) project at UC
Davis compares
four farming systems with varying levels of dependence on
external
resources over a 12-year period. Changes in soil biology and
fertility are
becoming apparent. Steady-state conditions have not been reached
in all
systems, and soil fertility and other problems will require
remedial
management. Shifts have occurred in pest populations in the
different
farming systems, particularly in weed and soil pathogen
communities. An
eight-acre companion site for novel farming practices tests the
reduction
of non-renewable resource inputs. Outreach through field days and
workshops
and grower adoption of emerging technologies continue as primary
objectives.
Richard Engel, Project Coordinator, California
Foundation for Agriculture
in the Classroom, "Farming, Agriculture and Resource
Management for
Sustainability (FARMS)": $15,000. This project combines
hands-on science,
agriculture and education to provide a base for informed
decision-making on
agricultural issues for high school students. It will enhance
their
understanding of the role of agriculture, its social and economic
significance and its relation to human health and the
environment. Included
will be student-teacher-farmer informational programs, workshops
and farm
stays as well as campus information on agriculture and
environmental
science careers. A partnership between private orchards, UC
Davis, the
California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom and the
Yolo County
Resource Conservation District, this project will be a model for
developing
outreach programs.
John Maas, Extension Veterinarian, Veterinary
Medicine Extension, UC Davis,
"Environmental Fate and Characterization of Selenium
Supplemented to
Intensively Grazed Beef Cattle": $14,800 for first year.
Selenium
supplementation is necessary and widespread in livestock
production, but
there is also concern about the potential for environmental
selenium
accumulation. There is a critical need for data charting the
environmental
fate of selenium supplemented to cattle. This project will
quantify
selenium concentrations in soils, plants and water in treated and
control
pastures.
Stephen Welter, Associate Professor and
Entomologist, Insect Biology
Division, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC
Berkeley,
"Impact of Border Companion Plants on Natural Enemy
Performance in an
Augmentative Biological Control Program in California
Strawberries":
$13,187 for first year. The $600 million California strawberry
accounts for
75 percent of fresh strawberries consumed in the U.S. Two-thirds
of the
crop is grown on the Central Coast and in Santa Maria, where its
primary
pest is the native tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus. Current
control
strategies involve multiple applications of insecticides,
including
pyrethroids, which are disruptive to natural enemies of other
strawberry
pests. An alternative, more selective control strategy for the
tarnished
plant bug may include the use of its natural enemy Anaphes iole,
a native
egg parasitoid. Preliminary studies show a need to increase the
effectiveness of the insects after release by studying their
performance
and biological constraints. The effectiveness of strawberry
flowers and
border companion plants as nectar sources will be examined as
factors that
enhance the establishment of resident insect populations of
Anaphes iole.
Researchers will conduct field trials in collaboration with
conventional
growers in the area. Comparisons will be made on the tarnished
plant bug
densities, fruit damage, parasitism levels and predator
populations with
and without bordering comparison plants. If successful, this
program may
help strawberry growers reduce the use of insecticides.
Gary Bender, San Diego County Farm Advisor,
"Alternate Side Irrigation to
Control Root Rot in Avocados": $10,000. Phytophthora root
rot has
devastated thousands of acres of avocado trees in California.
Chemical
treatments are being withdrawn or are too expensive. This project
will test
the efficacy of using alternate side irrigation with and without
mulch
applications as part of an integrated pest management program to
control
root rot. Rather than watering the same part of the tree's root
zone during
each irrigation, irrigation water will be applied on alternating
sides of
each tree row. Alternating dry/wet cycles are expected to
diminish the
infection while allowing for feeder root development. The use of
a series
of control practices is expected to provide better disease
control for
longer time.
Patrick Brown, Associate Professor, Pomology, UC
Davis, "Development of a
N-Fertilizer Recommendation Model to Improve N-Use Efficiency and
to
Alleviate Nitrate Pollution to Ground Water from Almond
Orchards": $10,000
for first year. Fertilizer management advice for California
orchard crops
like almonds has depended on generalized recommendations. This
may
contribute to high nitrate levels in some California groundwater.
A
reliable tool for measuring tree N status will aid growers in
using
nitrogen efficiently. The goal of this study is to develop and
test better
tools for precision nitrogen measurement in the field (leaf
nitrate
analysis), determine seasonal as well as total nitrogen demands,
and
prepare a user-friendly computer program for growers so they can
enter
local variables and receive best management recommendations for N
fertilization.
Joseph Hancock, Professor and Plant
Pathologist, Environmental Science,
Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, "Role of the Soil
Microbial Community
in Suppression of Rhizoctonia Stem Rot Disease of
Cauliflower": $9,200 for
first year. Fungicides are applied in the greenhouse plant
production
industries (ornamental and vegetable) to control soil borne plant
pathogens. The intense cultural and management practices in these
industries also lend themselves to integrated pest management
programs that
include the use of biologicals. This project should provide an
improved
means of selecting microbial biological control agents.
Researchers will
build on information from preliminary studies with Rhizoctonia
solani
suppressive soils identified in a field at the UC West Side
Research and
Extension Center. Microbes will be tested for their ability to
suppress
stem rot in a range of amended soils. Depending upon the results
of this
work, it may be possible to extend this method to other disease
suppressive
soils. A simple method of forecasting soil suppressiveness (and
lack of it)
to certain diseases could have very wide application in crop
planning.
Jeffrey Granett, Professor, Entomology, UC
Davis, "Do Soils Suppressive of
Phylloxera Exist?": $8,287. Grape phylloxera is one of the
most serious
pests of California vineyards, feeding on roots and allowing
entry of
secondary fungal rot organisms. No work has been done on the
community
ecology/natural enemy complex of the insect. This study will
conclude
whether there is potential for biological control of phylloxera
by finding
out if there are vineyard soils or management methods that
suppress the
pest.
Lynn Epstein, Associate Professor, Environmental
Science, Policy and
Management, UC Berkeley, "The Impact of a Sustainable
Agricultural Practice
with Grapes on Pesticide Use in California": $8,573. Since
the late 1980s,
canopy leaf removal has been a sustainable, non-pesticidal means
to control
Botrytis bunch rot, an economically important grape fungal
disease. By
using the California Department of Pesticide Regulations'
Pesticide Use
Report database, the study will document changes in fungicide use
on grapes
between 1990 and 1995. This is the first time the impact of a
sustainable
alternative has been determined using actual pesticide use data.
It will
also estimate the extent to which leaf removal has become a
standard
practice, analyze comparative costs of leaf pruningversus
fungicide
application, and assess the reasons for success or impediments to
further
use of this sustainable practice.
Larry Forero, Shasta-Trinity Counties Livestock
and Natural Resources
Advisor, "History of Grazing on the Shasta-Trinity National
Forest:
Implications for the Future": $5,919. This project was
funded by SAREP in
1995-96 to reconstruct the history of grazing in the Shasta
Trinity
National Forest and determine the causes for the reduction of
grazing in
the area since the 1930s. Additional funding will complete the
project with
data from the National Archives. Allotment maps will be digitized
and an
interview instrument will be developed. This project will provide
insight
into how changes in access to federal forage areas translate to
private
sector land use and management decisions.
Melvin George, Extension Agronomist, Agronomy
and Range Science, UC Davis,
"The Contribution of Ranch Roads, Cattle Trails and Bed Load
to the
Sediment Budget for a Grazed Watershed in the Central Sierra
Foothills":
$5,700 for first year. The sustainability of rangeland ecosystems
depends
upon owners' knowledge about their lands and the impacts of their
livestock. Water quality is a high priority rangeland and
livestock
production issue; livestock producers must assess nonpoint
pollution
sources on their ranches to show that voluntary compliance is a
viable
alternative to regulation. Current national and state watershed
studies in
a grazed watershed in Madera County have not measured sediment
from dirt
roads and cattle trails or bed load sediments in the stream
channel. This
project will measure those sediment budget components that are
not
currently being measured; existing funding will continue
measurements begun
two years ago of hill slope and streambank erosion, suspended
sediment,
flow and precipitation. The results of this project will be
communicated to
community and clientele groups by the Rangeland Watershed
Program, which
focuses on managing the rangeland forage crop and livestock in
ways that
support economic returns while reducing impacts on the resource
base.
Jeff Mitchell, Extension Vegetable Crops
Specialist, Kearney Agricultural
Center, "Use of Cover Crop Mulches in Processing Tomato
Production
Systems": $4,440 for first year. In recent years there has
been a shift in
land use on the West Side of the Central San Joaquin Valley.
Thirty years
ago more than 60 percent of the land was planted to wheat, barley
and
safflower. By 1994, however, this percentage had slipped to less
than seven
percent. Higher value crops, including many vegetables and
cotton, are now
common in West Side rotations. The increase in these high-value
crops has
led to fewer additions of organic matter to the soil, more
aggressive
tillage operations and a reported decline in soil quality.
Preserving soil
health and improving nutrient use efficiencies are compelling
reasons for
renewed interest among a number of farmers in more biologically
based
soil-building alternatives. This project will evaluate the
effectiveness of
surface organic mulches in no-till processing tomatoes for
suppressing
weeds without herbicides and providing nutrients, maintaining
optimal soil
temperatures, and increasing crop water use efficiencies.
Companion cover
crop trials for no-till techniques will also be included.
Community Development and Public Policy
Projects
(7 projects; $99,303)
Adina Merenlender, Extension Specialist,
Environmental Sciences, Policy and
Management, UC Berkeley, "A Spatially Explicit Vineyard
Model: Addressing
Crop Production, Public Policy and Environmental Concerns":
$22,000 for
first year. A team of UC research and extension personnel and
members of
the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association will develop a model
to predict
where new vineyards are likely to expand in the Russian River and
Alexander
valleys, and will evaluate their potential impact on oak
woodlands and
watersheds. Available digital information will be integrated to
predict and
test this model with recently established vineyards. First-year
data
collection on grape growing in the area will include grower
interviews and
a literature search.
Glenn Nader, Lassen County Livestock and Natural
Resources Advisor,
"Natural Beef: Consumer Acceptability, Market Development
and Economics":
$14,948. A team of ranchers, California State University, Chico
and UC
Cooperative Extension researchers is developing more sustainable
marketing
alternatives for Northern California beef producers by evaluating
consumer
acceptability of grass-fed natural beef, identifying the
demographics of
this potential market, determining its economic feasibility, and
developing
marketing plans for producers.
Carol Shennan, Associate Professor, Vegetable
Crops, UC Davis,
"Socio-Economic Analysis of Rotational Management of
Wetlands and Cropland
in the Tulelake Basin": $14,440. This project is examining
the merits and
costs of managing agricultural lands and wetland reserves in the
Tulelake
Basin. It has previously received federal grants to study the
impacts of
wetland/cropland rotations on water use and quality, seasonal
patterns of
nutrient release, crop productivity, pest populations, and
quality of
wildlife habitat. SAREP funds will support interviews with
farmers, farm
advisors, hunters, environmentalists, agencies and local
businesses, and
the organization of information gathered into a better
decision-making
framework.
Yolanda Huang, Coordinator, Willard Greening
Project, "Urban Food Project":
$18,225. The Willard Greening Project in the Berkeley Unified
School
District is joining forces with the Urban Gardening Project to
expand inner
city agriculture and make fresh, organic food available to
low-income urban
people using vacant and public lands. Homeless people will be
trained in
intensive farming methods and efficient market delivery systems
will be
developed. The food produced is for school use, the local
farmers' market
or for community lunch programs.
Andrew Fisher, Coordinator, Community Food
Security Coalition, "Evaluating
Farmers' Markets in Low Income Communities": $9,540. Factors
contributing
to successful farmers' markets in low-income areas will be
evaluated and
case studies of inner city markets from across the country will
be
developed. Researchers will also examine existing information on
failed or
successful California markets and will identify public policies
that affect
the success of farmers' markets. Those involved with farmers'
markets will
be educated about the steps needed to make them successful.
Sibella Kraus, Center for Urban Education about
Sustainable Agriculture,
"Market Cooking for Kids: In-Season Cooking and Science for
School
Children": $10,000. This project extends for a second year
the successful
hands-on cooking and science program developed for children at
Oakland and
San Francisco elementary schools. The focus is to help urban
children
understand the relationships between healthy, fresh food and
regional
sustainable agriculture. It involves collaboration among
teachers, science
educators, chefs, produce wholesalers and farmers. A primary goal
is the
production of A Young People's Reference Guide to Fresh, Local
Foods, so
other children may benefit from the work developed in this
program.
Laura Lawson, Berkeley Youth Alternatives,
"Rethinking Direct Marketing
Approaches Appropriate to Low Income Communities and Urban Market
Gardens":
$10,150 for first year. To better integrate urban market
gardening into
low-income neighborhood food consumption patterns, surveys will
be
conducted with Berkeley farmers' market consumers, West Berkeley
residents
and families affiliated with the Berkeley Youth Alternatives
organization.
Data will be used to develop a direct marketing pilot project
designed to
serve low-income urban communities.