Fruits & Vegetables

July 24, 2024

USDA facility to enhance crop production research

New greenhouses at the Sam Farr Crop Improvement and Protection Research Center in Salinas will be used to conduct fruit and vegetable research.

Photo/Bob Johnson

July 24, 2024

Beneficial bugs from drones help manage pests in lettuce

A drone releases green lacewing eggs and predatory mites over a Salinas Valley lettuce field. Researchers say such aerial applications show promise for controlling aphids and other pests.

Photo/Addie Adams/UC Davis

July 10, 2024

Evolving downy mildew strains test spinach growers

Jim Correll, a University of Arkansas plant pathologist, specializes in spinach disease research, including in the Salinas Valley. While incidents of spinach downy mildew remain low, he says the disease is challenging because it continues to develop new strains.

Photo/Bob Johnson

June 26, 2024

Weeding, weather aid battle in controlling lettuce virus

Weed control near farms is a critical part of prevention efforts for impatiens necrotic spot virus. The disease, which can be devastating to lettuce crops, finds hosts in weeds and is spread by thrips.

Photo/Natalie Hanson

June 26, 2024

Melon growers ready for holiday demand

A crew in San Joaquin County harvests the region’s first melons of the season to meet retail demand for the Fourth of July holiday. Manteca-based Van Groningen and Sons, a grower, packer and shipper of seeded, seedless and miniature watermelons, expects harvest to continue through October.

Photo/Christine Souza

June 19, 2024

Processing tomato pest triggers county emergencies

Emergency declarations in several counties in the San Joaquin Valley have allowed processing tomato growers to use neonicotinoid pesticides to treat fields impacted by sugar beet leafhoppers. The insect pest transmits beet curly top virus, which leads to reduced yields. County agricultural commissioners made the declarations preemptively to contain the pest before it damaged too many crops.

Photo/Vicky Boyd