Pesticide Potpourri

• The Green Industries BMP online training is available on the Green Industry Institute (GII) website.  This course is an approved adaptation of the statewide FDEP/IFAS program presented through the extension service by commercial horticulture agents and others.  The 4 CEU package is underwritten by FDEP through December 2007, so there will be no charge until 2008.  The training provides information and guidance on turfgrass and landscape management practices for the purpose of conserving and protecting Florida’s water resources.  Practices cover establishment of new turf and landscapes and the care of existing turf and landscapes, including construction activities, irrigation, nutrient management, and pest management.  (FDEP email of 11/6/06). 
•  The yearly IR-4 ornamental horticulture survey reveals the top issues of stakeholders in this arena.  The top five arthropod species of concern were thrips, whiteflies, scales, mealybugs, and spider mites.  The top five diseases were Phytophthora, Botrytis, powdery mildew, Rhizoctonia, and downy mildew.  The top five weeds were spurge, bittercress, nutsedge, Oxalis, and Eclipta.  (IR-4 Newsletter, October, 2006).

•  BASF Scientists have engineered a tomato that contains higher amounts of flavonoids that, when fed to mice, significantly reduced C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.  The mice themselves were transgenic, with inherently greater amounts of CRP, which is associated with vascular diseases.  The amount of peel (which contains 95 percent of the beneficial tomato flavonoids) that the mice ingested was equivalent to about three tomatoes a day for humans.  (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 10/30/06). 

•  Organic foods are a $14 billion business with a brisk growth rate, and they account for 2.5 percent of total food sales.  Some marketers are spending more to introduce organic versions of mainstream foods than they are earning from sales of organics, as consumers balk at paying more for organic versions of their favorite products.  One Midwest grocery executive who recently discontinued Campbell's Prego organic pasta sauce and Unilever's Ragu organic sauce due to low sales, and who predicts the same fate for Kellogg's organic cereals, was quoted as saying, “Most of my consumers couldn't care less.  I see this going the same way as low-carb.” After an expensive flop with its Carb Options line, Unilever this year introduced Ragu organic pasta sauce with $20 million in advertising, only to see it wither on the vine.  An executive close to the company said Unilever has failed to sell enough to cover its marketing outlay for the brand and has been forced to “scale its organic strategy way back” as a result.  By next year the brand will be limited to - at most - 15 percent of traditional grocery stores, mainly those that cater to upscale clientele interested in organic products.  Others, such as Kraft, are not willing to abandon the organic market just yet, given the fact that the segment saw sales growth of 16 percent to $14 billion last year, according to Nutrition Business Journal.  But that number still represents less than 3 percent of food sales - and some 41 percent of total organic-food sales are from commodities like fruits, vegetables and meats.  (Advertising Age, 10/15/06). 

•  In November, about 2,000 people mobbed a hospital in southwest China where a young boy died after his grandfather was sent away to raise money for the child’s treatment.  The 3-year-old boy became sick after swallowing farm chemicals.  The demonstrators smashed windows and equipment in the six-story building, which was closed because doctors could not work amid the wreckage.  They also burned three police vans.  (Gainesville Sun, 11/14/06). 

•  Environmentalist David Suzuki, best known for his television programs on nature and the environment, is ready to step out of spotlight and live the simple life, lamenting that he has not had a greater impact.  Releasing what he insists is his last book, a second installment to his autobiography, the 70-year-old Japanese-Canadian says he is looking forward to spending more time in the Canadian wilderness, carving wood and fishing.  He regrets that after decades of campaigning for everything from cleaner air to sustainable farming, his work has not had more impact.  Suzuki was quoted as telling Reuters in a recent interview in Australia while promoting his book, David Suzuki: The Autobiography that, “Nobody any longer knows what a sustainable future is.  I feel like we are in a giant car heading for a brick wall at 100 miles an hour and everyone in the car is arguing where they want to sit.  For God’s sake, someone has to say put the brakes on and turn the wheel.”  (Reuters, 10/25/06).  Ed. note: Always a cheery quote from Dr. Suzuki. 

•  What’s Jose up to now?  Police detained Jose Bove, a possible candidate for France's 2007 presidential election, on November 4 after a demonstration against genetically modified food on private property.  Bove and some 50 other farmers went to the police to file a complaint of attempted murder against a corn grower.  Police were cited as saying that the owner, who was also held, had fired a gun in the air to disperse the demonstrators.  Between 100 and 150 protesters went to the farm in the southern Gironde region and poured water over what they said was genetically modified corn held in a silo.  When the owner arrived, he fired his gun and ran his car into four vehicles before the demonstrators overpowered him.  (Reuters, 11/5/06).