CALIFORNIA
Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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Parastoo Farajpoor, a doctoral student at the University of California, Davis, collects tomato plant leaves in a Yolo County field infested with a parasitic weed, branched broomrape, which can devastate tomato crops.
Researchers target parasitic weed in tomato fields By Vicky Boyd University of California researchers are waging a multipronged attack against a parasitic weed that threatens the state’s $1.5 billion processing tomato industry.
broomrape research, institute general manager Zach Bagley wrote in an email. To help fund further work, a group of growers, processors and industry associations supported creation of an industry-funded state Broomrape Control Board. Assembly Bill 402, sponsored by Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, would do just that. It passed the Assembly and Senate, and awaits Gov. Gavin Newson’s signature. Comprising 12 regional representatives, the board would provide recommendations to the California Department of Food and Agriculture secretary related to surveying, de- tecting, analyzing and treating broomrape, according to the bill language. It also would establish annual assessment rates to be paid equally by tomato producers and handlers. Branched broomrape was eradicated from the state about 40 years ago. But when it reappeared in Yolo County tomato fields in 2017, eradication began anew. The cause for concern is established broomrape populations in other tomato-grow- ing areas with Mediterranean climates have caused up to 80% yield loss. As such, CDFA considers it an A-rated noxious weed subject to quarantine.
By taking innovative approaches, such as using special digital and pest-sniffing tech- nology, they hope to develop long-term management options for Orobanche ramosam, an invasive, blossoming plant known as branched broomrape. “To me as a field researcher, to have this kind of mixture of all of the other research, from applied to early stage development, has been really interesting,” said UC Cooperative Extension weed specialist Brad Hanson. Currently, a study team from UC Davis is gathering crop samples in a broomrape-infest- ed research field near Woodland, following strict protocols to ensure they don’t spread the weed. In partnership with the UC Digital Agriculture Laborabory, they are using drones equipped with special cameras and technology to scan the fields, along with human spotters and new techniques to detect volatile organic chemicals that may indicate the presence of the weed. The California Tomato Research Institute has already provided more than $600,000 for
See RESEARCH, Page 8
October 11, 2023 Ag Alert 7
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