tree fruit News
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EPA approves two insecticides for control of invasive stink bug
On June 24, 2011 EPA approved, for emergency use, the insecticide dinotefuran (trade names Venom and Scorpion) on tree fruit to help manage populations of the brown marmorated stink bug, an invasive insect that has caused extensive yield losses in tree fruit production in the mid-Atlantic region. The approval, known as an emergency exemption, applies to Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, ...
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Drones effective tools for fruit farmers
People have used the phrase “drone on and on” for a long time. Webster’s dictionary defines this figure of speech as “to speak for a long time in a dull voice without saying anything interesting.” Yet, in agriculture, drones aren’t dull, at all! Farmers use drones to be more efficient. Drones help farmers improve yields and stay ahead of problems before they ...
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Florida citrus growers: 80 percent of trees infected by greening
Florida’s citrus growers say as much as 90 percent of their acreage and 80 percent of their trees are infected by the deadly greening disease, which is making a huge dent in the state’s $10.7 billion citrus industry, a new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences survey shows. The survey, conducted in March 2015, shows the first grower-based estimates of both ...
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Need to know what to spray on citrus trees to keep bugs at bay? There’s an app for that
Florida has nearly 70 million citrus trees on more than 531,500 acres. Now imagine trying to figure out what pesticide to spray on each of those trees to keep them safe from citrus greening. University of Florida researcher James Tansey says the answer is as close as your Android smartphone with a new app developed with ZedX, an information technologies company based in Pennsylvania. The free ...
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Repellant could keep dangerous beetles away from avocado trees
Using some pleasant-smelling chemicals, avocado growers may soon be able to repel beetles that inject a potentially deadly fungus into their trees, saving fruit and money, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers say. When they’re infected with the laurel wilt fungus, redbay trees – a close cousin to the avocado — emit methyl salicylate to ...
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Canadian Apple Orchard Taste-Tests the IoT
Algoma Orchards, located in Newcastle, Ontario, is no rinky-dink farm. In fact, it’s the largest privately owned grower and packer of apples in Canada. The company maintains 750 acres of trees, a packing plant and a juice factory onsite, and imports apples from Chile in order to maintain a year-round supply. The company also conducted a test last summer of an Internet-controlled ...
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Microscopic molecules can fight citrus greening bug with less insecticides
Researchers with the University of Florida and several other institutions have found a way in laboratory tests to use 200 times less insecticide and yet still kill as many insects that carry the devastating citrus greening bacterium. It is a step forward in ridding groves of the insect that is threatening to destroy Florida’s $10.7 billion citrus industry. Lukasz Stelinski, an associate ...
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Machine harvesting may increase apple supply for hard cider market
Cider - or "hard cider" as it is typically known in the United States - is experiencing a real revival. The fermented apple juice with 0.5% to 7% alcohol-by-volume is the fastest growing alcohol market segment in the US, boasting a 54% increase in production annually from 2007 to 2012. Naturally, increasing consumer demand for cider translates to a need for more apples to make quality cider ...
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FAO urges policy-makers to strengthen forest producer organizations
Strengthening forest producer organizations should contribute significantly to reducing poverty, improving livelihoods and enhancing economic development of smallholder forest owners and farmers, FAO said today at the International Conference on Forest Producer Organizations, taking place in Guilin, China, 25-28 November 2013. Being part of a producer organization can give individual forest ...
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Luna® Fungicide Label Expansion Gives Growers New Crops for Broad-Spectrum Disease Control
Bayer has received notice that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved an expanded label for Luna® fungicides permitting use on a larger group of fruit, nut and vegetable crops. Once approved in relevant states, these label expansions will be effective across a broad geographical range of markets from California and the Pacific Northwest to Florida. “This ...
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