Winter 1996 (v8n1)


SAREP Funds New Projects

Thirty-six research and education projects have been granted a total of $203,430 by UC SAREP in the 1995/96 funding cycle, according to Bill Liebhardt, SAREP director. New projects were chosen in four different areas: community development and public policy, production, educational events, and graduate student awards. A brief description of the projects, principal investigators and amounts awarded for the first year follows.

Community Development and Public Policy Projects
(6 Projects; $51,699)

  • Patricia Allen and Jackelyn Lundy, Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, UC Santa Cruz, "Food Security in Santa Cruz, California: Building a Foundation for Community Action": $8,560. This project will focus on the city of Santa Cruz and its issues of food security, which means the ability of community members to have a secure, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through local non-emergency sources within a viable, environmentally sound agricultural system. This will be addressed by research, policy analysis, community networking and publications to support the development of a local food policy council. Guided by an advisory committee of local stakeholders and food policy experts, the investigators will prepare a report on food security in Santa Cruz, including who is most at risk nutritionally and why.

  • Joyce M. Ewen, Pomona-Inland Valley Council of Churches, "PIVCC's Food Security Project": $5,000. This project will increase food security by building the capacity of a low-income neighborhood to produce its own food, increase knowledge and practice of good nutrition, and expand accessibility of fresh, locally grown food. The collaborative project will link several key organizations to create solutions for hunger issues and long-term food security.

  • Santos Gomez, Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security, "Using Water Transfers to Promote Sustainable Rural Development": $11,000. This project will determine the conditions under which water transfers can promote the health and sustainability of rural communities. Working collaboratively with farmer and farmworker organizations, rural community leaders, and other researchers, the investigators will determine where water transfers could generate significant positive or negative impacts and identify policy alternatives for water transfers that encourage sustainable rural development.

  • Robert Gottlieb, Urban Planning, UCLA, "Expanding Direct Marketing Opportunities for Community Development and to Reduce Pesticide Use": $10,139. This continuing project will complete a feasibility study of a "Market Basket" program in which farmers who sell at farmers' markets use a new marketing arrangement resembling community supported agriculture. Demonstration projects will be launched in two low- and middle- income communities with large minority populations, one in Southwest and one in East Los Angeles.

  • Sharon Junge, Placer County Cooperative Extension Office, "Impacts of Local Food Systems on Communities and Agriculture/Reason for the Seasons...Increasing Sustainable Practices Among Consumers": $10,000. This continuing project is encouraging greater purchasing and production of local agricultural products to create a more stable and sustainable community. The investigators are working with a grassroots agricultural marketing association, PlacerGROWN, to educate consumers on the benefits of purchasing locally produced, processed and distributed food that is geared to seasonal availability.

  • Sibella Kraus, Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, "Market Cooking for Kids: Developing Children's Consciousness of Regional Sustainable Agriculture": $7,000. This project is an innovative cooking and science program for children in Bay Area public schools which combines hands-on education about the biology and production of local seasonal foods with basic cooking instruction about how to appreciate and prepare these foods. The program will reach almost 500 children, primarily from low-income backgrounds and will be a year-long collaborative effort among the school district, restaurants, produce businesses, farmers' markets, and regional farms.

Production Projects
(11 projects; $128,481)

  • Roger Ingram, Placer-Nevada counties farm advisor, "Controlled Grazing on Foothill Rangelands": $21,500. This project will address the expressed needs of Northern California livestock producers for research-based information on controlled grazing and sustainable livestock production practices. It will also demonstrate how land owners and ranchers can monitor the effects of these practices so they can decide for themselves whether controlled grazing is appropriate for their business. The project will also address public concerns about the environmental impacts of grazing.

  • Rob Atwill, UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center, Tulare CA, "Assessing the Environmental Risk from Rangeland Cattle Shedding Cryptosporidium parvum in their Feces": $7,966. Large municipal water-borne outbreaks of Cryptosporidium-induced gastroenteritis in humans has raised questions among ranchers, government regulators and watershed managers as to whether cattle grazing is a leading source of this pathogen and how best to equitably minimize its possible impacts. This project will determine whether and under what conditions eggs of the pathogen shed in the feces of rangeland beef cattle can survive the ambient temperatures typical of California rangeland from spring through fall.

  • Larry Forero, Shasta-Trinity counties farm advisor, "History of Livestock Grazing on the Shasta-Trinity Forest: Implications for the Future": $5,000. Historical documents indicate that livestock grazing in Shasta, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties has decreased from 90,000 animal unit months (aum: amount one cow with a calf eats per month) during the 1930s to about 9,400 currently. This study will reconstruct the history of grazing in the Shasta Trinity National Forest and determine the causes for this reduction of grazing activity. The data could be used to demonstrate how reduction in livestock grazing on public land translates to private land use decisions.

  • Bruce Jaffee, Nematology, UC Davis, "Suppression of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes in Conventional and Organic Farming Systems": $9,000. This is the second year of a study in which soils from conventional and organic farming systems are being examined for their suppressiveness to plant-parasitic nematodes. The project will be conducted at the Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems project at UC Davis.

  • Steve Temple, Agronomy and Range Science, UC Davis, "A Comparison of Conventional, Low Input and Organic Farming Systems: The Transition Phase and Long-Term Viability": $37,500. The Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems project at UC Davis, now in its eighth year, compares four farming systems with varying levels of dependence on external resources over a 12-year period.

  • Ford Denison, Agronomy and Range Science, UC Davis, "Rotation Length and Organic Transitions": $7,000. An additional four-year organic rotation was added last year to the Long Term Research on Agricultural Systems (LTRAS) project at UC Davis. SAREP provided the start-up money for this 100-year long-term farmland research experiment in 1990. This part of the LTRAS project will continue to evaluate two-year and four-year rotation length and will assess the contributions of soil quality and human factors in the transition to organic farming.

  • Steven Koike, Monterey County farm advisor, "Determination of the Effect of Cover Crops on Lettuce Drop Disease": $3,540. This is the second year of a study that will determine the ability of cover crop residues to reduce lettuce drop disease. Another objective of the study is to determine the effects of compost on populations of the lettuce drop pathogen.

  • Krishna Subbarao, Plant Pathology Specialist, U.S. Agricultural Research Station, Salinas, "Subsurface Drip Irrigation for Soilborne Disease Management in Lettuce": $8,000. In the first year of this study, the use of subsurface drip irrigation compared to furrow irrigation was shown to reduce the incidence of lettuce drop and the severity of corky root, two serious diseases of lettuce in the Salinas Valley. Also, yields were higher under drip irrigation. The second year of the study will continue with the same objectives to verify the results and will include fungicide-sprayed vs. unsprayed subplots.

  • Jay Rosenheim, Entomology, UC Davis, "Ecology of a Group of Generalist Predators, the Green Lacewings, and their Contribution to Biological Control in Almonds and Walnuts": $8,000. This project seeks to develop an improved understanding of the ecology of green lacewings, one of the dominant groups of generalist predators in almonds and walnuts. The research will evaluate whether releases have the potential to substantially augment natural populations, and will determine the optimum timing and developmental stage of release.

  • Marita Cantwell, Vegetable Crops, UC Davis, "Alternative Postharvest Treatments for Decay and Insect Control": $13,000. Consumer demand for pesticide-free produce is increasing while consumers also continue to expect insect-free and decay-free products. This project will evaluate the two important benign postharvest treatments, high carbon dioxide atmospheres and heat therapy, for their effects on decay and insect control on grapes, pears, leafy greens, tomatoes, and peppers.

  • Michael Costello, Fresno County farm advisor, "Fostering Transition toward Balanced Predator/Prey Mite Populations in Vineyards Using Narrow Range Summer Oil": $7,975. While the most frequently applied pesticide for Pacific mite on grapes is effective, it has a 30-day reentry period and is scheduled for cancellation due to regulatory changes. This project will evaluate the effects of narrow range summer oil, which has a 12-hour reentry period, on Pacific mite and predator mite populations in comparison with the standard mite treatment.

Graduate Student Awards
(6 projects; $10,250)

  • David Smethurst, Geography, UC Berkeley, "The Effects of Changes in Landholding Patterns and Land Use on Vegetation in El Dorado County": $2,000.

  • Jacqueline Chu, Geography and Environmental Studies, San Jose State University, "Social and Environmental Restoration through Urban Therapeutic Gardens": $900.

  • Clara Nicholls, Entomology, UC Davis, "An Agroecological Strategy for the Conversion of Commercial Flower Production Systems to Low-Input Organic Management": $2,000.

  • Jennifer Thaler, Entomology, UC Davis, "Artificial Stimulation of Host Plant Defenses in Cultivated Tomato and Effects on the Herbivore and Natural Enemy Community": $1,939.

  • Lynn Wunderlich, Plant Protection and Pest Management Program/Entomology, UC Davis, "Evaluating Release Techniques for Efficient Delivery of Green Lacewings (Chrysoperla rufilabris) for Control of Mealybug on Grapes [Pseudococcus maritimus (Ehrhorn) and Pseudococcus affinis (Maskell)]: An On-Farm Study of Augmentative Biocontrol": $1,846.

  • Daniel Carroll, International Agricultural Development/Human and Community Development, Davis, CA, "The Effects of Health and Safety Regulations and Labor Management Practices on Production Agriculture in California: A Case Study of Winegrape Operations in Sonoma and San Joaquin Counties": $1,565.

Grants for Educational Events
(8 projects; $13,000)

Educational grants are awarded to individuals and organizations to conduct workshops, field days, and other educational events related to sustainable agriculture. Eight grants were awarded to support 13 different programs around the state. For more information on a particular event, call the telephone number shown. To learn more about SAREP's educational grants program, call David Chaney at (916) 754-8551.

Click here to view updated 1995-1996 Grants for Educational Events information

  • Roger Ingram, Placer-Nevada counties farm advisor; Dave Pratt, Napa-Solano counties farm advisor; "The California Grazing Academy": $1,000. (916) 889-7385.

  • Miguel Altieri, Entomology and Plant and Soil Microbiology, UC Berkeley, "A Mobile Workshop on the Scientific Basis of the Conversion Process of High Input Conventional Systems to Agroecological Management": $1,000. (510) 642-9802.

  • Mark Freeman, Michael Costello, Fresno County farm advisors, "Sustainable Production in the San Joaquin Valley: Grapes, Citrus, Nut Crops, and Stone Fruits": $2,000 (2 workshops). (209) 456-7265.

  • Stephanie Larson, Sonoma-Marin counties farm advisor, "Determining the cost of Forage Production and Grazing Land Rental to Maintain Sustainable Beef Cattle Operations": $1,000. (707) 527-2621.

  • Jill Klein, Richard Reed, Community Alliance with Family Farmers Foundation, "The Lighthouse Farm Network Educational Events": $5,000 (5 workshop/field days). (916) 756-8518.

  • Desley Whisson, Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, UC Davis, "A Workshop on Vertebrate Pest Management in Agriculture": $1,000. (916)754-8644.

  • Paul Vossen, Sonoma County farm advisor; Michael Dimock, Sunflower Strategies, "Sustainable Practices Marketing Initiative": $1,000. (707) 527-2621.

  • Douglas Parker, Agriculture and Resource Economics, UC Berkeley; Lee Fitzhugh, Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, UC Davis; Bruce Roberts, Allan Fulton, Kings County farm advisors, "Workshop on Agriculture/Wetlands Coordination in the Tulare Lake Basin": $1,000. (510) 642-8229. 


 
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