Looking to save money and water when you irrigate? UF/IFAS scientists have developed an app for that. Want to know what plants to grow in your garden? You guessed it: UF/IFAS has an app for that as well.
Florida’s strawberry producers must protect their multimillion-dollar annual crop from freeze damage. Typically, growers spray water on the crop during a cold snap, but they are looking for ways to use less water, yet produce the same amount of crop. New University of Florida research shows growers can keep using both their current sprinkler spacing and low pressure or enhanced real-time irrigation control to save water – and they can produce the same strawberry crop yield during mild freezes.
The disease that threatens to destroy Florida’s $10.7 billion citrus industry appears to have its own mechanism to promote its spread, making it harder to control.
Not only did the tall narrow rows grow the same amount of vegetables, they retained more fertilizers – reducing what would have leached into groundwater – and they would need half the amount of water. In addition, he cut fumigation rates for pests by as much as 50 percent.
Rogers has a doctorate in entomology from the University of Kentucky and specializes in citrus integrated pest management. He has focused on the Asian citrus psyllid, the insect that carries the bacterium that causes citrus greening, which is threatening to destroy the Florida’s $10.7 billion citrus industry.
Walk into a science museum, and you may read the words “paleontology” or “astronomy.” But you’re not likely to find the word “agriculture” in any science museum, even though many exhibits relate to agricultural content or practices. Katie Stofer found this gap when she surveyed 29 science museums in cities of all sizes across the U.S. Stofer hopes to help bridge that gap.
Back before chemical pesticides and herbicides, farmers had to come up with ways to kill the weeds that took over their fields. One method used “back in the day” was letting pigs loose in fields that were not being used for crops for a season and allowing the pigs to do what they do naturally: dig up the roots of weeds and fertilize the land.
The conference has evolved from an annual statewide event that began in 2009 in Kissimmee to more targeted, regional conferences across the state.
Basil can add a little zest to any meal. But downy mildew disease threatens the herb’s very existence. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are trying to manage the disease with little to no spraying.
The 3rd edition of the Florida Citrus Rootstock Selection Guide is now available. The updated guide is a convenient, easy-to-use reference to 20 characteristics of 45 rootstocks. It highlights 21 recently released rootstocks, some of which show reduced citrus greening incidence in early field trials.
Space may not be the final frontier for Anna-Lisa Paul and Robert Ferl; they want to grow plants there. Because, who knows, we may one day try to live on Mars, and to survive, we’ll have to grow our own food. Thus far, experiments by the two pioneering scientists have proven so successful that, earlier this month, NASA recognized their research with one of its three awards in the category of the Most Compelling Results.
Nearly half of Floridians eat more seafood than they did five to 10 years ago, but 40 percent still do not eat the federally recommended dietary intake of seafood. Floridians also know seafood is good for them, and they like their seafood caught or harvested in the Sunshine State. But many are not sure they’d know Florida seafood if they saw it, and they’re hesitant to pay the higher cost of local seafood.
Growers in Florida’s $100 million-a-year avocado industry could see a rise in the price of avocados in the short term due to a reduction in domestic production, because of the deadly Laurel Wilt pathogen, a new University of Florida study shows.
As a good source of protein, Vitamin A, calcium, iron and fiber, broccoli is so full of nutrients, some call it a “super food.” It’s also popular at the supermarket, whether it’s grown in America or overseas. But Americans are willing to pay $1 more per pound for U.S. organic broccoli than that from China and Mexico and up to 32 cents more per pound than that grown in Canada.
On Thursday, more than 50 national and international peanut scientists and researchers will tour the fields and review the varieties to determine if there are any they would like to try in their areas.
As the University of Florida prepares to embark on the 2015-16 academic year, the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences offers several courses and majors that reflect how the institution adapts to industry and stakeholder needs.
Nian Wang, a researcher with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, is working with a team to develop a microbial-based product, infused with patented plant-defense inducers and beneficial bacteria strains, that he hopes will cure citrus greening.
Mosquitoes transmit malaria, West Nile virus and chikungunya virus. Monitoring these insects is critical to understanding when and where to control them and lessen the risk of human disease. Insect experts the world over use carbon dioxide, the same gas that humans exhale, to attract blood-feeding bugs to traps, so they can measure their abundance, test them for diseases and make decisions about whether or not to control them.
The lobsters create "behavioral immunity" that prevents them from contracting a deadly disease, a key finding for the $50 million a year Florida business, according to a new study co-authored by a UF/IFAS scientist.
UF/IFAS fisheries Professor Mike Allen says officials could save $1 million a year in monitoring for invasive fish, knowing they can use tournament fish-catch data.
Most of the seeds and skin from grapes used for wine production winds up in waste streams. But UF/IFAS scientists have found that the oil extracted from Muscadine grape seeds produces a form of Vitamin E, which can help reduce fat.
University of Florida scientists have discovered how much water castor needs in order to grow in North Florida, a key finding in their efforts to determine the feasibility of producing castor in Florida for the first time since 1972.
The U.S. House Science Committee will ask two UF/IFAS doctoral students and their supervisor, horticultural sciences Professor Kevin Folta, about genetically modified organisms. Their testimony will be June 25.
University of Florida IFAS researchers are building new homes for the feral bees to save the birds.
UF/IFAS creates phone app to help citrus farmers determine the best pesticide to use in the fight against citrus greening.
Deciding how often and when to use prescribed fire can be tricky, especially when managing for rare butterflies, University of Florida scientists say. That realization stems from a UF Institute of Food and Agricultural study in which researchers experimented with pupae -- insects in their immature form between larvae and adults -- of butterflies known to frequent fire-prone habitats of Florida.
A University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher warned that a disease that has decimated Cavendish bananas in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia could be headed for the Western Hemisphere.
The University of Florida will help tackle food insecurity in one of the poorest countries in the world, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Children and pets often play on wood decks, and when that wood gets wet, arsenic gets out, posing a potential danger. Wet wood loses three times more arsenic than dry wood, UF/IFAS scientists found.
The discovery opens the door the potential strategies to treat "iron overload" disorders. Those who get the genetic disorders are most often people of Northern European descent.
UF/IFAS scientists find a light trap that captures more mosquitoes so mosquito control officials can save time and money in their spraying efforts.
First impressions are critical. So much so that for many people, even when they are given scientific information, they won't change their minds. This is particularly true for issues such as genetically modified foods and global warming. In fact, some people get even more defiant.
Participants went through MRIs, which showed their brain activity when they viewed campaign ads on cage-free eggs.
The laurel wilt pathogen can severely damage Florida's avocado crop, which provides a $100 million-a-year economic impact on Florida. But the new camera images from UF/IFAS scientists can give growers a jump-start on the disease.
Brown Dog Ticks can drive homeowners and their canines to extreme measures. But new research from UF/IFAS scientists can help alleviate the problem.
Not every tick carries the lyme disease pathogen, says UF/IFAS Veterinary Entomologist Phil Kaufman, debunking one myth. Still, Floridians and others can contract tick-borne diseases, and he offers advice on dealing with them.
The Rugose spiraling whitefly leaves a sticky white mess on everything from cars to homes and golf courses and trees. But a wasp the size of a pin head can control it, say UF/IFAS scientists.
Rafael Munoz-Carpena and Eric McLamore are being honored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Munoz-Carpena was also elected to an advisory panel to the government of Spain.
There's been plenty of negative publicity about Gulf seafood since the 2010 oil spill. But the University of Florida's George Baker is here to say that not only is the seafood safe, he aims to help keep it that way.
Researchers led by Luke Flory found that prescribed fires in areas invaded by stiltgrass were much more intense – with taller flames and much hotter fires – often reaching more than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Those more intense fires killed tree seedlings and encouraged the spread of stiltgrass.
Silver nanoparticles produced with an extract of wormwood can stop several strains of the fungus phytophthora dead in its tracks.
Monica Wilson, the new Florida Sea Grant Gulf oil spill specialist, works with colleagues in several states to bring the latest science data to fishermen, businesses, tourism officials and more.
Live a healthier lifestyle and control your risk of getting cancer by going online to a new course designed by a UF/IFAS nutrition professor.
Jackie Nettles will work full-time starting a week after she earns her bachelor's from UF this week. A senior in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Nettles will management community outreach for a nonprofit, one of the many career opportunities for graduates of the college.
A newly minted Ph.D. surveyed county Extension directors, their subordinates and peers. Chris Mott connected diet and exercise to emotional leadership, a key component for leaders everywhere.
The survey shows that more than 34 percent of residents said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their community’s economy after the DWH oil spill, while only 15.6 percent felt that way before the oil spill.
Dr. Monica Wilson with UF/IFAS Seagrant explains how The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative is providing science based information to people whose livelihoods depend on a healthy Gulf.
Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010, many people were concerned that seafood was contaminated by either the oil or dispersants used to keep the oil from washing ashore. Ina University of Florida study, all seafood tested so far has shown “remarkably low contaminant levels,” based on FDA standards, and revealed that: • 74 percent of samples were below quantifiable limits; • 23 percent of samples were between 0.1-0.9 parts per billion, and; • 3 percent of samples were between 1.0 and 48 parts per billion.
How do antibiotic resistant organisms get into cattle? That's what KC Jeong wants to know. And he'll use a $2 million NIFA grant to find out. Kevin Folta will use $500,000 to investigate how to improve the taste and shelf life of tomatoes and strawberries.
Could a mushroom a day help keep the doctor away? Some early evidence from a new UF/IFAS study indicates mushrooms boost immunity.
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