November 2003
Series continues--Ag education, extension: What will 21st century require?
Extending new information to growers is increasingly important to the health of agriculture. Entomologist Robert Bugg of SAREP shows walnut growers how to identify beneficial insects in the orchard.
DAVIS--How is research-based information about sustainable agriculture going to get to farmers, students and consumers in an age of policy and budget challenges? The leader of Iowa State's internationally known Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University will share ideas Nov. 21 in the continuing noon public lecture series on sustainability in UC Davis' Plant & Environmental Sciences Building, Room 3001.
Fred Kirschenmann will talk about the direction of sustainable agriculture education and extension in the 21st century.
"In the last few years, we have listened to and worked with the people of Iowa to develop a new vision for Iowa agriculture," Kirschenmann said. "This agriculture would enable farmers to retain more value on the farm while restoring the natural resources on which all agriculture depends."
Kirschenmann said achieving that vision will require directed research to "connect the dots" between what is known and where society wants to go; more partners, not fewer, in the university, agricultural and broader communities to move new ideas into practice; and additional funds beyond standard state funding.
These topics are of particular interest to California, even as the state budget crisis threatens the existence of state sustainable agriculture programs. The Leopold Center's budget has been cut by Iowa's state legislature in each of the last three years.
The lecture series continues next Wednesday, Nov. 26 with John Reganold of Washington State on the science behind organic and biodynamic farming, and Friday, Dec. 5, with William Horwath on the history and future of sustainable agriculture at UC Davis.
UCD's College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies is a major funder of the series. Additional support for the lecture series is provided by Unilever Bestfoods Corporation, Kearney Foundation of Soil Science, UCD Department of Agronomy and Range Science, UCD Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, the UCD Center for History, Society, and Culture, and the statewide UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP).
The sustainable agriculture lectures are videotaped and posted within 24 hours on the SAREP Web site (http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/seminar/). Video archives of previous lectures are available at the same site.
Media Contacts:
Lyra Halprin, (530) 752-8664, lhalprin@ucdavis.edu
