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August 4, 2009
· Apple moth quarantine expanded in California
· European Union reaffirms ban on GM corn
· US farms used as real-world research labs
· Fusarium inhibitor may help protect plants
· Veggie bus brings produce to the inner city
Apple moth quarantine expanded in California
(CVBT.com) – New and expanded quarantine boundaries are in effect in several California communities due to recent detections of the light brown apple moth, the California Department of Food and Agriculture said.
The new boundaries will quarantine plants, flowers, fruits
and vegetables grown in some areas of Contra Costa,
Three new quarantine boundaries have been established:
• Approximately 18 square miles in the
• About 16 square miles in the Gonzales area of
• Approximately 15 square miles in the
Two currently quarantined areas have been expanded:
• Some 12 additional square miles in the Hollister area of
• Approximately 32 additional square miles in the regulated
area of
Preparations are also underway for forthcoming quarantines
in the
The statewide light brown apple moth infestation has grown in density and range in 2009, the CDFA says.
This summer the apple moth “did considerable damage” to
berry fields near
Approximately 3,473 square miles are now under quarantine
within
The quarantine applies to residential and public properties as well as plant nurseries, farms and other commercial enterprises. Residents are asked to consume fruits and vegetables from yards and gardens in the area rather than removing them from the property. Landscapers and yard maintenance companies will be among the businesses placed under compliance agreements to ensure that yard waste is disposed of properly. People who are unsure if they are within the quarantine zone are asked to assume that they are, says the CDFA.
The Light Brown Apple Moth is native to
The moth also feeds on host plants and damages or spoils the appearance of ornamental plants, citrus, grapes, and deciduous fruit tree crops. State and federal agriculture officials are currently developing sterile insect technology to combat the infestation.
European Union reaffirms ban on GM corn
(FT.com)
– Efforts by Monsanto to introduce genetically modified maize into the European
Union hit a fresh roadblock on Monday when member states upheld bans imposed by
Only four states – the
The votes forcefully asserted the right of member states to block GMOs based on safety concerns in spite of repeated findings to the contrary by the European Food Safety Authority.
Environmental groups celebrated and called for the Commission to relent. “Tuesday’s vote is a clear message that European countries will not be bullied into taking unsound decisions regarding their environment, their farming and their citizens’ health,” said Helen Holder, the GMO co-ordinator for Friends of the Earth.
But EuropaBio, a GMO lobby group,
called the votes “incomprehensible”, arguing that they subordinated science to
public opinion and would lead to higher food prices. “Tuesday’s vote is a
political sidestep that goes against the wishes of
EU member states have allowed the import of GM feed for cattle but their resistance has stiffened over growing GM crops, amid fears they could have unforeseen effects on consumers and the environment.
That explanation has rankled US policymakers and agribusinesses, who say GM foods are safely cultivated throughout the world.
Monday’s vote could presage a similar outcome when member
states consider restrictions on MON810 introduced by
Meanwhile, some member states suggested that Monday’s vote called into question the role of EFSA, with France, in particular, arguing that the group's ability to review products should be bolstered.
US farms used as real-world research labs
(Minnesota
Public Radio)
The North Dakota farm, near the small town of
The tile drains water from a nearby field. Water that flows
off of this land eventually makes its way to the
Kent Bartholomay raises corn,
wheat, sunflowers and soybeans. His farm is about 50 miles southwest of
"We're just trying to see if we're losing fertilizer and how much," Bartholomay said. "We try to do stuff environmentally friendly, and fertilizer costs money, it was really expensive last year. Whatever we can do to get a good crop and save money."
Bartholomay is one of three
Automated devices take water samples whenever there's enough rain to cause runoff. The water quality is then tested. Weather and soil data are recorded around the clock.
Bartholomay said he was sold on the idea because the goal is to help him be a better farmer.
"I was kind of skeptical but they aren't really checking us or trying to get us in trouble," he said. "[With] a lot of government agencies, it seems like they're trying to find something on you, get you in trouble one way or another."
NDSU researcher Roxanne Johnson said the idea is for researchers and the farmer to collaborate.
"We're not out there to shut anyone down or say wow,
this is terrible," she said. "We are going to share that information
with the landowner and say this is what's going on and maybe you want to do
something about it if there's a problem. And like
The government or universities often recommend best management practices or BMPs to farmers.
NDSU Agricultural Engineer Tom Scherer said university research is important, but can't compare with data gathered on a working farm.
He said many BMPs are based on science only from a small university research plot.
"What we're gathering is probably a different paradigm of how to really evaluate what farming does on the land and what some of these management practices really do," Scherer said. "We might find some of the BMPs we've been recommending are not best management practices; they might be worst management practices."
Scherer said it's very common for farmers today to have a college degree, perhaps even a master's degree, and they are much more likely to challenge university researchers. He said that give and take can mean better solutions for farmers and the environment.
The North Dakota Discovery Farms are just getting started. The goal is to gather at least five years of data from each farm, before moving the project to another farm.
U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologist Kathleen Rowland thinks, as the Discovery Farm concept catches on, it will lead to many improvements in farming practices.
"Hopefully they'll develop their own program and we can
all join together to exchange data, information and agricultural
practices," Rowland said. "I think it would be a big benefit to the
agricultural community here in the
Rowland said what's learned from data gathered on Kent Bartholomay's farm will also be useful to other farmers in the region.
The biggest challenge for
Click here to hear the audio portion and to see some great pics
Fusarium inhibitor may help protect plants
(USDA-ARS) – A key bacterial compound that inhibits the growth of the plant pathogen Fusarium verticillioides has been identified by Agricultural Research Service scientists. The compound could help protect plants, livestock and poultry from fusarium infection.
The compound is produced by Bacillus mojavensis strain RRC101. Finding better controls for F. verticillioides is important because fumonisin mycotoxins -- especially fumonisin B1 -- are toxic to livestock and poultry.
Microbiologist and research leader Charles Bacon and his
team at the ARS Toxicology and Mycotoxin Research
Unit in
B. mojavensis is a plant-residing bacterium that can be used to control fungal diseases in corn and other plants. Though B. mojavensis is known to work as a biocontrol agent, the specific substance responsible for inhibition of Fusarium was not identified until recently.
The Leu7-surfactin was isolated from growing the bacterium in liquid cultures. In lab tests, the compound proved effective in inhibiting growth of the fungus. Surfactin has a detergent-like activity that dissolves the lipid membranes inside the fungus, eventually killing it.
In Bacon's tests, Leu7-surfactin was effective at controlling F. verticillioides at very low concentrations of 20 micrograms per liter of liquid, making it more efficient to use.
In addition to its antibiotic effects, surfactin can be used in textile manufacturing, environmental remediation, and fossil fuel recovery. This compound's properties create great potential for biotechnological and biopharmaceutical applications.
Bacon and his colleagues examined all currently available strains of B. mojavensis and found that all of the strains are endophytic-living within the plant-and all were active against F. verticillioides and other fungi in lab tests. The genus Bacillus is known for the production of more than 24 antibiotics, several of which are fungicidal with the potential to control plant diseases.
Veggie bus brings produce to the inner city
(StyleWeekly.com)
– Lottery tickets, cigarettes and beer are three things any shopper can find on
For about three hours last Thursday night, Lilly brought his idea — and his converted school bus full of vegetables and other farm products — to the parking lot of the Satellite Restaurant for City Councilwoman Reva Trammell’s monthly constituent meeting.
“It was very emotional,” says Lilly, a Varina native who lives in Henrico’s suburban North Side. He got the idea for his magic vegetable bus about two years ago as a way to bring the resurgent farmers’ market scene to the communities that are most in need of nutritious food alternatives. His business, Farm to Family (Farmtofamilyonline.com), aims to become a mobile distributor for local farmers.
Invited to speak to Trammell’s constituency, Lilly says he spent much of the three hours in his bus selling produce and answering questions.
“There was a trailer park close by and some families came by — they were really grateful, asking when I was coming back,” he says. “A lot of them don’t have cars and there are no local fresh markets where they can get this kind of stuff.”
Lilly began taking his bus full of produce to local farmers’ markets only about two weeks ago after outfitting it as a barn-themed mobile market, and it’s not just people along Jefferson Davis that have responded positively.
Karen Atkinson operates the Market Umbrella, a cooperative
marketing effort to boost
“It’s bringing it to the people instead of the people coming to the market,” says Atkinson, who shares Lilly’s vision of establishing a bus route throughout the city upon which he would sell produce grown by local farmers and provide how-to programs on urban gardening in low-income city neighborhoods.
Where markets have had little trouble taking off in the city’s more affluent neighborhoods — the South of the James Market in Forest Hill Park has been the most popular of a handful of recent new city markets — Atkinson and Lilly both see the less-affluent areas as those most in need of locally grown, healthy food alternatives.
Trammell couldn’t agree more. On Sunday she launched her district’s own market, also organized under Atkinson’s Market Umbrella. The twice-monthly Hickory Hill International Market also aims at the area’s growing Hispanic and Asian communities.
About 30 people showed up under threatening, rain-laden
skies to buy
“This is something that’s really been needed,” she says. “So many people on the Jefferson Davis corridor don’t have cars. … now the [Farm to Family] bus will come to them.”
End Transmission