Pesticide Potpourri
- The 2008 Peanut Field Day will be held on August 21 at the North Florida Research and Education Center near Marianna, FL. Registration is at 8 AM and tours start at 9 AM. Topics include pest control, new varieties, and pesticide safety. CEUs will be available and a complimentary lunch will be served at noon. For more information contact Dr. Barry Tillman at 850-482-9904.
- One type of potential biofuel crop is gaining the interest of Florida growers. Although less than 100 acres of jatropha (Jatropha curcas) are planted in the U.S., millions of acres are planted worldwide. The seeds of the tropical fruit bear high amounts of oil (20 pounds of seed = one gallon of oil). The plant is drought-resistant and grows well in sand, requiring less water and fertilizer. It grows to maturity within five years, has a life of up to 50 years, and can be commercially harvested within a few years of planting. (Fox News, 6/16/08).
- Corn yield and production varies from year to year depending on the favorableness of weather during the growing season. Weather records were used to simulate corn yields from 1922-2002 for 11 Corn-Belt land grant university locations, for four different planting dates, and for three different amounts of plant-available stored soil moisture at or near planting time. Corn yields increased for all sites for the combined study indicating that rainfall and maximum air temperatures have become more favorable for growing corn over the past eighty years. This is the first study reporting yield data for this length of time with a fixed technology for growing during the entire period studied. (Crop Management Online, 6/9/08).
- Brazil’s environment minister reached an agreement with the grain processing industry to ban purchases of soy from deforested Amazon until July 2009. “This same initiative will be extended to two other sectors - the timber sector and the beef sector,” Environment Minister Carlos Minc said while praising the grain industry and non-governmental organizations for a “pioneering” initiative. The moratorium is a commitment by the local Vegetable Oils Industry Association (ABIOVE), which includes big crushers such as Cargill Inc, Bunge Ltd, ADM Co and Louis Dreyfus, and the Grain Exporters Association (ANEC) to extend the expiring, one-year ban. (The New Zealand Herald, 6/18/08).
- Food and agriculture officials in California have abandoned a plan to spray pheromone over several densely populated areas in an effort to eradicate the light brown apple moth, a threat to California’s $32 billion agriculture industry. A plan for summertime spraying had been delayed in April by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the face of health concerns about the pheromones that confuse the moth’s reproductive cycle. In June, the California Department of Food and Agriculture said that advances in another type of control technique - release of sterile moths - would allow the state to avoid spraying over urban areas. A spokesman for the department said this technique had taken significantly less time than anticipated. Nearly 30 cities and three counties had passed resolutions against the department’s proposal. The spraying program also faced legal hurdles; in April, a county judge in Santa Cruz, one of the hot spots in moth infestation, ruled that the state needed to complete a fuller environmental review before spraying. Similar spraying there last November led to numerous complaints of respiratory problems. Through June 6, more than 27,000 moths had been found in 12 counties, mostly in Northern California. Tens of thousands of sterile moths could be released as early as next year. (New York Times, 6/20/08).
- European farmers who grow genetically modified crops enjoy higher yields and revenues than conventional growers according to a new study. Scientists from the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's scientific body, surveyed more than 400 Spanish farmers who grew B.t. maize - the only GM crop allowed for cultivation in the EU. They found they produced higher yields and earned up to €122 more per hectare ($80 per acre) than conventional maize farmers. It is the first time scientists have looked into the impact of GM in Europe, said Dr Emilio Rodriguez Cerezo, who led the research. “There are definite economic advantages for farmers for the reason that their crops are not destroyed by pests,” he said. (The Independent, 6/30/08).
- In June, a spokesman for the European Commission, Johannes Laitenberger, expressed regret that many EU nations are still refusing to allow bent and deformed fruit and vegetables onto the market as food prices continue to rise. The EC has maintained that 26 market standards are not helpful and could be removed. This would allow misshapen fruit to be sold in supermarkets, with special labeling, for use in cooking. He said that the EC’s Agricultural Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel is determined that this should go forward and is surprised by the resistance to such a practical example of simplification. (EUBusiness, 6/16/08).
