Project aims to improve practices for fertilizer use Researchers at the Universi ty of California, Davis, are working to help farmers improve fertilization and irriga- tion practices.
will review CFDA measures intended to reduce pollution from fertilizer. UCCE experts will also journey into the San JoaquinValley to performeducation and demonstrationprojects, provide on-farm consultation and conduct outreach ac- tivities that promote efficient water use. “We want to know if we are achieving the goals of the program, including be- havioral change goals,”Mark Lubell, aUC Davis professor of environmental science
and policy, said in a statement. “We look at individual farmers, we look at their operations, the types of crops they grow, types of irrigation systems used; all these farmstructuresmatter a lot,” Lubell said. “We look at their connection to out- reach, howwell networked are they, their attitudes towards government; that’s all part of the story.” Mark Cady, senior environmental scientist for CDFA’s Fertilizer Research
and Education Program, said the goal is to integrate best practices for both fertil- ization and irrigation, which are essential for California farmers to achieve greater crop productivity and cost savings. “We know that the integration gets you better outcomes, not only for the environment, but for farmers too,” Lubell said. “Farmers can be more pre- cise in their application of water and the application of nutrients, and that precision can reduce the money used on those inputs. That efficiency leads to greater savings.” The team of UC researchers also in- cludes Professor Patrick Brown and Assistant Professional Researcher Sat Darshan Khalsa, both with plant scienc- es; Daniel Geisseler, assistant UCCE spe- cialist of land, air and water resources; Doug Parker, director of the California Institute for Water Resources; Khaled Bali, irrigation water management spe- cialist with UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center ; and graduate and undergraduate students. Scholarship seeks to inspire careers in wine industries A new award fund has been created to help students interested in the wine industry pursue their degree in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis. The Theopolis Vineyards Diversity Fund will provide one scholarship of as much as $10,000 each year to students interested in viticulture and enology and related research ormanaging a vineyard. The scholarship seeks to promote stu- dents who are under-represented in the wine industry or have faced barriers to establishing careers. Th e opo l i s V i n e y a r d s f ound e r Theodora Lee took continuing educa- tion classes offered by the viticulture and enology department and donated $70,000 to create the fund, which award- ed its first gift this year to a senior from South San Jose. Lee, a senior partner at an Oakland law firm, opened Theopolis Vineyards in 2003 in the Yorkville Highlands of Anderson Valley. “As one of the few African American women who owns her own vineyard, I hope to inspire others to become vint- ners,” Lee said. “It is important that young folks know that they, too, can pursue careers in viticulture, vineyard man- agement and even own a vineyard, and thrive in the wine industry.” Lee bought land used for sheep farm- ing in Anderson Valley in 2001 and be- gan planting grapevines a few years later. Today, the vineyard produces award-winning petite sirah, pinot noir, rosé and other wines.
The effort is a part of a three-year UC Cooperative Extension demonstration project, which is funded by a $2 million grant that the California Department of Food and Agriculture received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Under the program, a UC Davis team
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24 Ag Alert March 9, 2022
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