Pollination News
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How to Care for Cherries – From Spring to Harvest
Cherry trees are often planted not just for fruit, but for the blossoms they grow. Cherries have a variety of uses – from snacking to baking to making into jam. Cherries can be expensive at the grocery store, and planting a tree or two in the backyard can help save money on this versatile fruit. Follow these tips to care of cherry trees at home or on large acres of land. Choosing Which ...
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Late-Planted Corn Can Still Reap Strong Yields
Growers worried about delayed planting for corn, take heart – late-planted corn sometimes has reaped better yields than early planted corn, says an agronomist in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. It’s true that the optimal time to get corn planted in southern Ohio is between April 10 and May 10 and in northern Ohio between ...
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Vineland Creating Opportunities with Okra
Coupled with growth in demand for local food and exotic vegetables, diversification can provide Ontario growers with profitable alternatives to conventional crops. According to Statistics Canada, over six million kilograms of okra are imported into Canada every year, yet domestic production is limited. The ability to develop local production systems to supply this emerging market can help promote ...
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Semios Receives US EPA and California State Approval for Aerosol Pheromone to Control the Navel Orangeworm
Semios, a leading provider of real-time agricultural information and precision pest management tools, has received US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval and California Department of Pest Regulation (DPR) approval for aerosol pheromone biopesticide products that disrupt the mating of the Navel Orangeworm (NOW). Michael Gilbert, Founder and CEO of Semios said, “The Navel ...
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Pollinators vital to our food supply under threat
A growing number of pollinator species worldwide are being driven toward extinction by diverse pressures, many of them human-made, threatening millions of livelihoods and hundreds of billions of dollars worth of food supplies, according to the first global assessment of pollinators. However, the assessment, a two-year study conducted and released today by the Intergovernmental ...
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Herbicide reduction can preserve crop yields as well as biodiversity benefits of weeds
Pesticide-sparing approaches to farming do not have to compromise on crop yields, new research suggests. A study that explored the impact of reduced herbicide use across a variety of different farming contexts found that herbicideefficient systems could be just as productive as conventional systems — and more so than organic systems — whilst having other important environmental ...
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Ontario Releases Draft Pollinator Protection Health Action Plan
On January 22, 2016, Ontario released for consultation a draft Health Action Plan (Plan) to reduce losses of honeybees and other pollinators caused by several “stressors” stated in the Plan to include: (1) reduced habitat and poor nutrition; (2) diseases, pests, and genetics; (3) exposure to pesticides; and (4) extreme weather and climate change. This action plan is part of a broader ...
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ASA Legislative and Regulatory Outlook for 2016
For a number of reasons, prospects for legislative and regulatory action in 2016 are relatively more predictable than in years past. First, it’s a Presidential election year, meaning Congress will adjourn in mid-July in advance of the nominating conventions, and then won’t consider any major legislation before the November elections. Any FY-2017 appropriations bills that aren’t ...
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Wild Bee Decline Threatens U.S. Crop Production
The first national study to map U.S. wild bees suggests they’re disappearing in many of the country’s most important farmlands — including California’s Central Valley, the Midwest’s corn belt and the Mississippi River valley. If losses of these crucial pollinators continue, the new nationwide assessment indicates that farmers will face increasing costs — and ...
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Ozone pollution reduces tomato fruit yield and viability
Ozone harms pollen viability of tomatoes, leading to reduced fruit weight, size and quality, a recent study has revealed. The researchers suggest the effect of ozone on pollen could be a useful way to rapidly test for pollution-induced stress on crop plants in risk assessments. Ground-level ozone damages plants as well as posing a risk to human health. It negatively affects crop yields and ...
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New Strategy to Limit Neonicotinoids and Other “High Risk” Pesticides in Québec
In a press release issued on November 22, 2015, the Canadian province of Québec (Quebec) announced its release of Québec Pesticide Strategy 2015-2018. Although the Strategy itself is available only in French, Québec has provided a summary of the Strategy in English, which is available here. Québec’s press release states that the Strategy “sets out the ...
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Cancellation Order Establishes Existing Stocks Requirements for Sulfoxaflor
On November 12, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final cancellation order for all previously registered pesticide products containing the active ingredient sulfoxaflor, pursuant to Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 6(a)(1). The registrations for the sulfoxaflor products in question were cancelled effective on November 12, 2015, by an ...
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Pesticides may harm wild bees but natural areas can mitigate effects
The use of pesticides in orchards may be threatening populations of wild bees, which are important pollinators that increase crop productivity, a new study concludes. However, the damage was mitigated in areas where the orchards were surrounded by natural landscapes, such as deciduous forests. Pollinators, such as bees, provide an important and often underappreciated ecosystem service to ...
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Some plants are more sensitive to herbicides during reproductive stages of life cycle
This study assessed the effects of herbicides on non-target plants in Denmark and Canada. The findings showed that some plants are more sensitive to herbicides in the reproductive stages of their life cycle and can experience delays in flowering and reduced seed production. The authors say future ecological assessments should consider reproductive outcomes. Herbicides are some of the most widely ...
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EPA Launches New Websites
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new pesticides website: http://www2.epa.gov/pesticides, and a new biopesticides website: http://www2.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides, among others. EPA states that this gradual move to new versions of its content is part of a larger EPA effort to build a more user-friendly website. The updated biopesticides website focuses on ...
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North Florida farmers are using sesame as a rotation crop
In between seasons of corn, peanut, and cotton, North Florida farmers were interested in growing a rotation crop that could withstand the wilting heat of summer and be harvested by machine. So, since 2011, University of Florida researchers have been experimenting with growing the tiny seeds you find on top of hamburger buns or garnishing salads – sesame – as a viable, money-making ...
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Hudson Valley organic farm produces seeds largely by hand
Drying corn stalks wilt in late summer sun as Ken Greene tours his crops. Calendula flowers are past bloom and brown. Melon leaves lay crinkled by the dirt. Plants have, literally, gone to seed. A perfect picture for an organic seed harvest. "It looks like hell now, but it's actually good for the seeds," said Greene, co-founder of the Hudson Valley Seed Library. The small business 70 miles ...
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Ancient crops preserved for future generations in Arctic seed vault
Varieties of one of the world's most important staple crops will be stored for perpetuity deep in the Arctic ice today. José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is joining scientific experts and delegations from Peru, Costa Rica and Norway to witness a ceremony here this afternoon that will help to preserve these vital ...
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EU study on bee-killing pesticides increases pressure for ban expansion
A study by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has linked the spraying of three neonicotinoid pesticides to harmful effects on bees, increasing the pressure on the European Commission to expand a current EU-wide ban to all uses and crops, said Greenpeace. EFSA assessed the safety of pesticides thiamethoxam (produced by Syngenta), clothianidin and imidacloprid (both produced by Bayer) when ...
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EPA awards Loudoun Valley High School teacher with Presidential Innovation Award
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Liam McGranaghan of Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville, Va. with the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE). “Liam McGranaghan’s dedication to developing a stimulating environmental science curriculum inspires students to get involved in community environmental projects,” said EPA Regional ...
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