Soil erosion and phosphorus (P) runoff can be severe in potato production systems in the Northeast USA, which are characterized by intensive tillage, minimal ground cover, low crop residue return, and steep slopes. We used rainfall simulators in the greenhouse and field to assess sediment and P movement associated with two conservation practices: straw mulching and application of polyacrylamide ...
With potato harvest nearing completion, the challenge will now be to maintain the condition of the crop, right up until supply to the customer. “It’s really worth stopping to consider that what you put into storage, is reflective of what you get out post-storage,” explains Morley Benson of Certis. “By this, I mean the quality of potatoes going into store, as well as the ...
Compacted soils have been found in intensively cultivated vegetable crop regions of Central Wisconsin, resulting in the wide scale use of subsoil tillage by growers. The goal of this project was to assess potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yield and quality response to soil compaction and subsoil tillage. Potato quality factors evaluated were marketable yield, tuber size distribution, internal ...
If left untreated, slugs can cost the potato industry £53 million each year. With predictions of a high pressure slug season ahead, and the potential damage these pests can do to a crop both physically and financially, Robert Boothman, commercial director of Boothmans Agriculture, explains how to keep one step ahead of the pest. “The milder, wet winter and lack of ground frosts ...
There is increasing use of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) as a green manure in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) rotations; however, effects of its management on soil N supply to the subsequent potato crop are unknown. Fertilizer N management and plow-down date for a preceding Italian ryegrass crop, ‘Lemtal’, on soil N supply to a subsequent potato crop, ‘Russet Burbank’, was determined ...
Current phytotoxicity plant test protocols for US pesticide registration require testing for effects on seedling emergence and early growth without regard to other important factors, such as plant reproduction. Yield and quality reduction can have significant economic and ecological effects. Therefore, field trials were conducted to determine if potato (Solanum tubersum L.) vegetative growth and ...
Growers should be mindful that slugs can thrive when there is no leaf canopy to protect the crop. This, combined with heavy rainfall and reports of increased slug populations this year, mean that good slug control at harvest is paramount. Top tips for slug control during harvest: Attention to detail During harvest focus on your attention ...
This paper evaluates the results of a study highlighting the effect of rigid scheduling on crop water use and soil water extraction patterns, crop coefficients, crop response functions and water-use efficiency (WUE). The cumulative Penman potential evapotranspiration (Etp) at the end of the season reached around 400 mm and the total depth of water applied between planting and harvest through ...
Flexibility in slug control The mild and wet weather and lack of ground frosts seen this winter, means that being vigilant to slug activity will be key as we move into the potato planting season. Andrew Sprunt, Agrii’s Northern region potato technical agronomist, explains what growers can expect from the season ahead, and how to manage the potential impact at farm level, ...
The modernisation of farm-to-market supply chains is important for increasing farmers' income, alleviating poverty, cutting food waste and improving the affordability of food staples, according to the authors of a book. The Quiet Revolution in Staple Food Value Chains: Enter the Dragon, the Elephant, and the Tiger is a joint ...
Agriculture plays an important part in the world economy. One-third of the economically active population obtains its livelihood from agriculture. In Asia and Africa, millions of small-scale farmers, fishermen, and indigenous people produce most of the food consumed worldwide, in most cases on very small plots of land. Agriculture is increasingly called upon to address a wide range of critical ...
Sector Consultation The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association partnered with Vineland to host a research strategy workshop in November 2014 with the goal of defining the top five research priorities for each crop group. Grower organizations were invited to nominate two representatives to participate on their behalf and a number of researchers from relevant fields were invited to ...
Coming soon to a farm near you: just about every possible type of pest that could take advantage of the ripening harvest in the nearby fields. By 2050, according to new research in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography, those opportunistic viruses, bacteria, fungi, blights, ...
There has been a sharply falling trend in the total volume of sales of agricultural pesticides in the EU between 1991 and 1995. But this was reversed in 1996. From 1991-1995, EU sales of pesticides, measured by weight of active ingredients (ai), fell by 13%. They then rose by 6% between 1995 and 1996 to stand at 299,826 tonnes ai. But this still put them nearly 8% below the 1991 figure. The use ...
Tiny, biointensive operations show smallholder farmers from around the world how they can grow far more food than conventional approaches. Her face shaded by a wide-brimmed straw hat, Olawumi Benedict is cheerfully tending to her “little babies” — kale seedlings growing in shallow wooden flats until they’re hardy enough for transplantation into soil beds. Three miles over ...
Blackgrass is a weed that troubles many, and controlling it is an increasing challenge, particularly with the small armoury of products available, and the growing issue with resistance. Paul Drinkwater, Crop Production Manager for Abbots Ripton Farming Company, explains how, in his 40 years of being in the Cambridgeshire area, the blackgrass problem has evolved. “My role sees me manage ...
Ithaca, New YorkCOMPOSTING PET WASTE AT DOG PARKCayuga Compost and Tompkins County Dog Owners Group launched a program on Earth Day this year to collect and compost pet waste at the Ithaca Dog Park. About 5,000 bags are used to collect 1,000 pounds of dog waste every month at the park. Plastic bags were previously provided by Wegmans supermarket, and disposed of in dumpsters going to ...
Herbicides, insecticides and fungicides threaten the environment and human health in many parts of the world. But research is pointing to a better approach. In today’s globalized world, it is not inconceivable that one might drink coffee from Colombia in the morning, munch cashews from Vietnam for lunch and gobble grains from Ethiopia for dinner. That we can enjoy these ...
ONE YEAR has passed since the Washington State University (WSU) composting facility and the Spokane Regional Compost Facility discovered traces of persistent herbicides in their composts. In Spokane, the source of contamination is a compound called clopyralid. Compost contamination at WSU initially involved the herbicide picloram, but clopyralid has since been detected in the compost also. In ...
Natural arsenic pollution of drinking water has been reported from over 70 countries world-wide, affecting an estimated 150 million people (Ravenscroft et. al., 2008). About 50 million of these people live in Bangladesh, 30 million in India and 33 million in six other countries of south and south-east Asia. It has recently been recognised that arsenic-contaminated groundwater used for irrigation ...