(UF/IFAS) — Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Shultz yielded popularity to an almighty pumpkin in the 1966 animated TV Special “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.” Today, pumpkin popularity for holiday decor, healthy snacking, and scrumptious recipes during fall and winter months has given rise to innovative research led by Geoffrey Meru, assistant professor of vegetable breeding, genetics and genomics at …
How Many Hives Are Best for Florida Blueberries?
By Karla Arboleda University of Florida (UF) researchers are working to establish honeybee hive recommendations specific to Florida blueberries. Right now, Florida blueberry growers rely on honeybee hive recommendations from research based in other states. Rachel Mallinger, an assistant professor in entomology at UF and part of the research team, said the amount of honeybees available to pollinate blueberries is …
Tropical Research and Education Center to Host Open House
(UF/IFAS) — On Dec. 4, the South Florida community has an opportunity to engage in innovative, high-tech research at the UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC) open house. The center, located at 18905 Southwest 280th Street in the heart of Homestead, is a hub of research and development that helps South Florida be one of the world’s leading agricultural and …
New Bed Design Can Save Growers Money
(UF/IFAS) — From Florida to Virginia, farmers are enjoying the fruits of Sanjay Shukla’s labor. His compact-bed geometry system allows growers to plant crops in tall soil beds, and the result is thousands of dollars in annual savings. New research by Shukla and his team shows that with savings of up to $102,000 per crop, annually, for a typical, 250-acre …
Better Cucumber and Watermelon Varieties Coming Soon
By Karla Arboleda Researchers at North Carolina State University (NC State) are working to release new cucumber and watermelon varieties. Due to persistent issues affecting cucurbits, experts at NC State are aiming to improve cucumber and watermelon varieties. Todd Wehner, a horticultural science professor at NC State, is working to provide cucurbits that are resistant to downy mildew and gummy …
New Method to Combat Brazilian Peppertree Problem
By Karla Arboleda Researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) are now approved to release a specific type of thrips to help control the Brazilian peppertree problem. INVASIVE SPECIES Brazilian peppertrees are an invasive shrub that cover about 700,000 acres of Florida. Carey Minteer, an assistant professor at UF/IFAS, worked on a portion of …
Microbial Marauder of Potato, Tomato Crops Has an Accomplice
(USDA/ARS) — Descendants of the fungus-like pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s — Phytopthora infestans — may have had a “helping hand” in recent U.S. outbreaks of the costly blight disease. Reporting in the September 2019 issue of Virus Research, a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Cornell University (CU) and Rutgers University scientists announced they had identified a virus that …
Florida Tomato Committee Names McAvoy Researcher of the Year
(UF/IFAS) — He may hold the title “emeritus,” which means “retired,” but Gene McAvoy remains active with University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension and research, helping bring farmers’ concerns back to UF/IFAS scientists. In fact, he just won the Researcher of the Year Award from the Florida Tomato Committee. For the past 22 years, McAvoy …
Research to Reduce Pepper Diseases; Boost Production
(UF/IFAS) — Pepper is popular. Consumers eat all kinds, including jalapenos, habaneros, chilis and more. Because people eat so much of the fruit, peppers are worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the Florida and national economies. In fact, in 2018, bell and chili peppers alone were a $181 million-a-year industry in Florida and a $628 million-a-year industry …
Researching New Fertilizer Technologies in North Florida
By Karla Arboleda To find efficiency in reducing nitrogen levels in soil, researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) are working with several technologies. Bob Hochmuth, a UF/IFAS Extension agent at the North Florida Research and Education Center – Suwannee Valley (NFREC-SV), coordinates controlled-release fertilizer research. The work aims to improve the functionality of …