" I heard it through the AgLine"

August 21, 2009

 

 

·        Irrigation saving Texas row crops, dryland withers

·        Mexico suffering from lowest rainfall in 68 years

·        Late blight disease spreads to Wisconsin potatoes

·        Valent seed treatment OK’d for experimental use

·        Urban beekeeping generates a community buzz

 

 

Irrigation saving Texas row crops, dryland withers

 

(AgriLife News Texas A&M) WESLACO -- Irrigated row crops in the Lower Rio Grande Valley have managed to weather this year’s blistering drought, but dryland crop losses could top $25 million, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service economist.

 

“At this point, irrigated crops are doing well, especially when you compare them to losses we’re already seeing in dryland crops,” said Dr. Luis Ribera, an AgriLife Extension economist in Weslaco.

 

“Drought-related losses to dryland crops of cotton, corn and grain sorghum have already reached $11 million,” he said. “But by the end of October when all the numbers are in, that total could jump to $26 or $27 million, if history is an indicator.”

 

As of Aug. 13, some 67 percent of the dryland cotton had been written off to the drought, as well as 92 percent of the dryland corn and 16 percent of dryland sorghum, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency.

 

Of a total of 524,000 acres of all three crops, both irrigated and dryland, 102,000 acres have failed, the report shows.

 

But the drought may have helped irrigated crops this year since dry weather tends to produce fewer insect pests, Ribera said.

 

At this time last year, losses to both drought and Hurricane Dolly were estimated at almost $15 million. By late October, actual losses had topped $25 million, an increase of 72 percent.

 

“Crop losses are estimated at intervals throughout the growing season, but the actual numbers aren’t known until the season is over and the numbers have been crunched,” Ribera said.

 

“So while Hurricane Dolly may have been the culprit for crop losses last year,” he said, “Dolly also helped fill the reservoirs we’re drawing from now.”

 

Despite the drought, the reservoirs behind Falcon and Amistad dams on the Rio Grande are still “sitting pretty” as the area moves into what is considered the rainy season, according to Erasmo Yarrito Jr., the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s deputy Rio Grande watermaster.

 

“Irrigation releases have been normal and inflows have been steady from Mexico and the Big Bend area, so our reservoirs are in good shape,” he said.

 

Yarrito said the drought has meant a decrease in inflows from the Rio Grande Basin in Texas and New Mexico, but not enough to cause concern.

 

“Falcon is at 66 percent of capacity, and Amistad, which is the larger reservoir, is at 97.5 percent of capacity, so if Falcon needs water, we can move that in from Amistad,” he said.

 

With the summer row crops being harvested, demand on the reservoirs through October will come only from citrus and sugarcane, as well as winter vegetable pre-plant irrigations, he said.

 

“Demand will subside after that, then pick up again in February as farmers pull pre-plant irrigations for the spring planting of row crops again. But as it stands now, we don’t see any problems in meeting those demands.”

 

Despite abundant supplies of water for municipalities, industry and agriculture, growers still require rainfall to leach plant-choking salts from soils that accumulate salinity from irrigation water, said Dr. Juan Enciso, an AgriLife Extension irrigation engineer in Weslaco.

 

"In addition to leaching salts from soils, rainfall is also needed for dryland growers whose properties don’t have the infrastructure to irrigate,” Enciso said.

 

The National Weather Service has rated most of the Valley as being in an “extreme” drought, with only one section of Cameron County rated as “exceptional,” its most severe classification.

 

A burn ban remains in effect in Hidalgo County with only a slight chance of rain in the forecast.

 

Other dryland counties of the state still in the grip of the relentless drought have not fared as well as the Rio Grande Valley.

 

At least nine South Central Texas counties are experiencing their worst drought in history, and much of the state is facing the worst drought conditions in the country, according to Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, a Texas A&M professor of atmospheric sciences who also serves as the Texas state climatologist.

 

Among those nine counties is Kleberg County which, for the first time in more than a century, produced no cotton at all this year, according to John Ford, an AgriLife Extension county agent for agriculture based in Kingsville.

 

Kleberg County includes the entire cotton production area of the legendary King Ranch. Economic losses have totaled $50 million in that county alone, Ford said.

 

In late July, AgriLife Extension economists reported that agricultural drought losses throughout the state had reached $3.6 billion and by the end of the year could exceed $4.1 billion.

 

Return to Top

 

 

Mexico suffering from lowest rainfall in 68 years

 

(boston.com) MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is suffering from its driest year in 68 years, killing crops and cattle in the countryside and forcing the government to slow the flow of water to the crowded capital.

 

Below-average rainfall since last year has left about 80 of Mexico's 175 largest reservoirs less than half full, said Felipe Arreguin, a senior official at the Conagua commission, which manages the country's water supply.

 

"We have zones where the reservoirs are totally full but others that don't have even a drop of water," he said in an interview late on Tuesday.

 

More than 1,000 cattle have been lost due to lack of rainfall, and up to 20 million tons of crops managed by 3.5 million small farmers are at risk of being lost, agriculture groups say.

 

The arid northwest region of Mexico has been hardest hit, along with the central part of the country surrounding Mexico City where 20 million people live.

 

Mexico typically has a rainy season from around June to October, topping up lakes and reservoirs that supply much of the country's water during the rest of the year.

 

The El Nino weather phenomenon, a warming of the seas in the Pacific Ocean, has induced a dry spell in South America and is likely partly to blame for Mexico's lack of rain, experts say.

 

Authorities have reduced the flow from the Cutzamala series of dams and rivers more than 60 miles long that supplies a quarter of Mexico City's water to ensure enough is available until next year's rainy season.

 

Trucks are delivering water to some parts of the capital where cuts have made the flow of water intermittent.

 

"If all we have is a bucketful, we wash up with a cloth, but not well, not like you should," said Maria de la Luz, who has sold chicken at a neighborhood market for 48 years. "Now is the worst it's been since I was a girl."

 

Arreguin said the water situation in the capital was alarming but not yet a full emergency.

 

"If it were a traffic light it would be yellow," Arreguin said.

 

FARMERS HIT

 

In Mexican states like San Luis, Aguascalientes and Colima, some farmers have been unable to successfully plant their crops because of a lack of rain, while others watched their corn and beans plants wilt. Authorities are handing out cash to small farmers in hard-hit areas.

 

Four-fifths of Mexico's water resources are used to irrigate crops and the government is encouraging farmers to adopt more efficient methods over the long term.

 

In neighboring Guatemala, the government is distributing emergency food to 56,000 families whose crops have been damaged.

 

"This problem happens every year, but this year it seems particularly serious," said Guatemalan government official Juan Aguilar.

 

Mexico's sugar crop was harvested before the drought set in, and coffee farms are mostly in unaffected areas.

 

Already-taxed underground water accounts for most of the supply to Mexico City, an urban sprawl built over a drained lake bead, and will likely face more stress.

 

Mexico has had slightly less rainfall over the past decade but there is insufficient data to say how much global warming can be blamed, Arreguin said.

 

"How much of this phenomenon is from El Nino? How much is from climate change? The best thing is to hope for the best but prepare for the worst," Arreguin said.

 

Mexico City officials are urging residents to conserve water by installing efficient shower faucets and to use buckets instead of hoses to wash their cars.MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is suffering from its driest year in 68 years, killing crops and cattle in the countryside and forcing the government to slow the flow of water to the crowded capital.

 

Below-average rainfall since last year has left about 80 of Mexico's 175 largest reservoirs less than half full, said Felipe Arreguin, a senior official at the Conagua commission, which manages the country's water supply.

 

"We have zones where the reservoirs are totally full but others that don't have even a drop of water," he said in an interview late on Tuesday.

 

More than 1,000 cattle have been lost due to lack of rainfall, and up to 20 million tons of crops managed by 3.5 million small farmers are at risk of being lost, agriculture groups say.

 

The arid northwest region of Mexico has been hardest hit, along with the central part of the country surrounding Mexico City where 20 million people live.

 

Mexico typically has a rainy season from around June to October, topping up lakes and reservoirs that supply much of the country's water during the rest of the year.

 

The El Nino weather phenomenon, a warming of the seas in the Pacific Ocean, has induced a dry spell in South America and is likely partly to blame for Mexico's lack of rain, experts say.

 

Authorities have reduced the flow from the Cutzamala series of dams and rivers more than 60 miles long that supplies a quarter of Mexico City's water to ensure enough is available until next year's rainy season.

 

Trucks are delivering water to some parts of the capital where cuts have made the flow of water intermittent.

 

"If all we have is a bucketful, we wash up with a cloth, but not well, not like you should," said Maria de la Luz, who has sold chicken at a neighborhood market for 48 years. "Now is the worst it's been since I was a girl."

 

Arreguin said the water situation in the capital was alarming but not yet a full emergency.

 

"If it were a traffic light it would be yellow," Arreguin said.

 

FARMERS HIT

 

In Mexican states like San Luis, Aguascalientes and Colima, some farmers have been unable to successfully plant their crops because of a lack of rain, while others watched their corn and beans plants wilt. Authorities are handing out cash to small farmers in hard-hit areas.

 

Four-fifths of Mexico's water resources are used to irrigate crops and the government is encouraging farmers to adopt more efficient methods over the long term.

 

In neighboring Guatemala, the government is distributing emergency food to 56,000 families whose crops have been damaged.

 

"This problem happens every year, but this year it seems particularly serious," said Guatemalan government official Juan Aguilar.

 

Mexico's sugar crop was harvested before the drought set in, and coffee farms are mostly in unaffected areas.

 

Already-taxed underground water accounts for most of the supply to Mexico City, an urban sprawl built over a drained lake bead, and will likely face more stress.

 

Mexico has had slightly less rainfall over the past decade but there is insufficient data to say how much global warming can be blamed, Arreguin said.

 

"How much of this phenomenon is from El Nino? How much is from climate change? The best thing is to hope for the best but prepare for the worst," Arreguin said.

 

Mexico City officials are urging residents to conserve water by installing efficient shower faucets and to use buckets instead of hoses to wash their cars.

 

Return to Top

 

 

Late blight spreads to Wisconsin potatoes

 

(University of Wisconsin) – The plant pathogen best known for causing the Irish potato famine — Phytophthora infestans — was just discovered in two commercial potato fields in two separate Wisconsin counties. Before this, the outbreak of late blight, as the disease is known, had been confined to tomato plants.

 

To date, late blight-infected tomato plants have been reported in eight southern Wisconsin counties, with a number of cases coming from the Madison area. In tomatoes, the disease often starts in the plant's leaves — causing brown, expanding lesions to appear — and then travels through the stems to the fruit.

 

For home gardeners wondering if it's safe to eat healthy-looking fruit from diseased tomato plants, the answer is yes, says University of Wisconsin-Madison plant pathologist Amanda Gevens. However, she points out, these tomatoes won't store well and shouldn't be used for canning.

 

Gevens and her colleagues in the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection are asking home gardeners to please destroy all of the diseased plants they find, as small outbreaks have the potential to impact Wisconsin agriculture writ large.

 

"This is a community problem," says Gevens. "Every little bit counts. Each plant that produces more spores is contributing to the overall [level of pathogen in the air], making it worse for the larger growers in the state."

 

The proper way to dispose of late blight-infected plants is to cut them off at the ground, seal them in a plastic bag and leave them in the sun until the plants are clearly dead, and then toss the whole package in the garbage.

 

Return to Top

 

 

Valent seed treatment OK’d for experimental use

 

(Wire Services) LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently granted Valent BioSciences Corporation a three-year experimental use permit for the use of abscisic acid as a seed treatment.

 

The EUP allows Valent BioSciences Corporation and its collaborators to evaluate the naturally occurring plant growth regulator S-ABA for two new uses: flowering delay for hybrid seed production and induction of cold tolerance to enable early planting. The EUP is authorized for California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Texas and Washington.

 

Valent BioSciences Corporation conducted successful trials with a hybrid seed corn company in 2008 in North America and also during the winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Valent BioSciences Corporation is collaborating with several hybrid seed corn companies this year to conduct a mix of EUP evaluation trials and non-EUP research experiments in numerous locations across the hybrid seed-producing areas in the Midwestern United States.

 

S-ABA Regulates Natural Processes

 

The Physiological Seed Enhancement (PSE) group, part of Valent BioSciences' Plant Sciences research department in Long Grove, Illinois, has found that application of S-ABA can be used to regulate the natural process of dormancy that occurs in seeds and buds. Such treatments, applied to parent seed before planting, have potential commercial value for the synchronization of male parent flowering with female parent receptivity in hybrid-seed production fields.

 

Valent BioSciences's PSE group also has identified new approaches for the potential use of S-ABA to induce cold tolerance in germinating seeds for early planting. In this use, S-ABA causes chilling-sensitive species such as corn to be more chilling-resistant by mitigating necrosis under cold stress. Valent BioSciences Corporation is conducting research experiments, focused on demonstrating the proof of concept in both laboratory and small-plot field studies.

 

"The commercial seed industry is very interested in both the flowering delay and cold tolerance treatments under development at Valent BioSciences Corporation, said Michael Donaldson, president and chief executive officer with the company. "Our S-ABA product is much easier to use than traditional cultural practices, which are time sensitive and equipment intensive. The S-ABA product is also easier to apply and use than competing products, which depend on application of polymer coatings to achieve flowering delay and cold tolerance. With favorable field trial results, appropriate regulatory approvals, and go-to-market plans in place, we expect to pursue commercial launch of both flowering delay and cold tolerance S-ABA products."

 

Donaldson further added that "it's important to note that S-ABA is also an important component of Valent BioSciences' Crop Stress Management Program. In this case, we are investigating water stress management using S-ABA on multiple crops as an alternative to genetic methods of drought tolerance."

 

Valent BioSciences Corporation, headquartered in Libertyville, Ill., is a worldwide leader in the research, development and commercialization of low risk, environmentally compatible technologies and products for the agricultural, public health, forestry and household insecticide markets.

 

Return to Top

 

 

Urban beekeeping generates a community buzz

 

(PHYSORG.com) – Walking up to the roof of the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C., is not a jaw-dropping experience. Exit the door and you are confronted with a sea of roof tiles and empty space -- there is nothing about this rooftop that really captures the eye. But walk around the corner, and you will discover something that a handful of other D.C. rooftops have in common -- a faint buzzing.

 

 The little house-like structures from which the sound comes are the homes of the Fairmont's 105,000 newest residents -- Italian honeybees that buzz in and out of the three hives: Casa Bella, Casa Blanca and Casa Bianca.

 

"At this point it's all kind of experimental," said Aron Weber, executive pastry chef and co-chief beekeeper at the Fairmont.

 

This might be one of the most high profile members of the district's honeybee community, but these are certainly not the only bees to grace the city with their buzzing. Other beekeepers, or apiculturists, have been modestly keeping bees within city limits for years, their fear of being discovered slowly dissipating with places like the Fairmont and the South Lawn of the White House jumping on the bandwagon.

 

And so the secret life of urban beekeepers is not so secret anymore. Beekeepers are, if not shouting, at least proudly standing on the rooftops that house their bee colonies. Washington, D.C., is no exception.

 

Toni Burnham, an urban beekeeper in the district since April of 2005, has let her secret slowly seep out with her blog and activity within the community.

 

"I've not been very good at keeping a secret, that's for sure," Burnham said as she spoke fondly of "her girls," the worker bees who are kept "teenagers for life" by the queen bee.

 

Burnham estimates that there are around two-dozen beekeepers in the D.C. area (though she says there could be more).

 

Burnham said most people in the city tend to belong to clubs in the suburbs.

 

"Washington doesn't have an association, at least until I start one," Burnham said.

 

And the trend is not limited to the Nation's Capital.

 

"What I have found is at least here in California, the non-commercial beekeeper numbers seem to have increased quite a bit," said Dr. Eric Mussen, extension apiculturist at UC Davis.

 

Mussen said that hobby beekeeping clubs of the San Francisco and San Diego areas are continuing to grow.

 

 Major cities like New York also are a part of the beekeeping trend. The green movement has been taken to a whole new level by urban beekeepers, who, with each rooftop community, help preserve the honeybee population and, in turn, the environment. Plus there's the added benefit of all-natural, hive-grown honey.

 

In fact, Burnham said, bees raised in the city often are healthier than those raised in the suburbs or in rural areas.

 

"There seems to be a lot less pesticide use in the city," Burnham said. "A lot of the chemicals they use for mosquito control in the suburbs, they actually kill pollinators. In the city there is more sensitivity to the amount of people and we end up with this funny little respite."

 

The buzz continues to increase as more and more people become aware of the impact bees have on the environment. The pollination bees provide is a vital aspect of agriculture. Those bees residing on the rooftops not only provide honey, they also help keep plant life healthy and happy.

 

"In fact there have to be bees in order to keep all those plants -- wild and cultivated -- growing," Mussen said. "They're just intricately involved in wildlife and human food production."

 

As green initiatives at universities continue to grow, Mussen hopes that will provide some help for apiculture academically.

 

"I think it's going to help some," Mussen said. "We don't really have a professor of apiculture on the Davis campus, and we used to have three. Hiring new professors into the academic institutions is really going to be an uphill battle."

 

According to a study conducted at the Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., in 2008, there were approximately 3.2 million honeybee colonies kept by beekeepers in the Unites States.

 

However, there is still a stigma around bees that makes them unfavorable in the eyes of many city-dwellers, especially those who become neighbors to new colonies.

 

"There's a lot of fear out there. People react to nature as a strange thing," Burnham said.

 

 In New York City, though some beekeepers prevail, beekeeping is illegal. The New York City Health Code states that no person can "possess, harbor or keep wild animals," which encompasses "all venomous insects, including, but not limited to, bee, hornet and wasp."

 

Burnham who said she has worried from the beginning that she would run across someone who personally opposes her city bees, has yet to encounter such a person.

 

But the more publicity beekeeping gets, the easier it is to educate people about the benefits of keeping bees.

 

"With the arrival of the bees at the White House and the arrival of another year where we lost 30 percent of the bees in the United States, it was just like 'speak now,'" Burnham said.

 

"A big part of why we're doing it is for the environment and to try to help the bees," the Fairmont's Weber said. "The more healthy colonies out there, the better."

 

Weber said they hope to use the honey in some of the cuisines and pastries in the Fairmont's restaurant, Juniper.

 

When asked if she plans to sell her honey, Burnham made it clear she is not quite as public with it. She said she designates 20 percent of her honey for charity, and the rest generally goes to her own personal stash.

 

"That's not what 'my girls' are for," Burnham said. "I've discovered I'm insanely covetous of my honey."

 

Much of her motivation for keeping bees is her personal enjoyment.

 

"There's the amount of time you have to spend with your bees, and there's the amount of time you want to spend with your bees," Burnham said. "It's insanely entertaining."

 

As Burnham gushed about her bees, she shared the profound effect keeping them has had on her.

 

"I walk down the street, I smell more things, I see more things. I watch out for my girls -- I see more critters out in everyday life," Burnham said. "It's completely changed the place where I live. Beware of beekeeping, it does that kind of thing to you."

 

Return to Top

 

 

End Transmission