For desert, how about a scoop of ice cream flavored with vanilla from Florida’s farmers? Because so many consumers enjoy vanilla, University of Florida scientists hope to help Florida farmers grow the bean.
As we celebrate June as National Dairy Month, some UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences experts tout the benefits of dairy in the daily diet, while other UF/IFAS researchers help ensure cattle produce ample dairy to fill consumers’ needs.
In a new article published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Donald Behringer and one of his co-authors, post-doctoral researcher Jamie Bojko, both of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, point out many ways organisms try to escape diseases.
They also want a landscape with pollinators, one that helps preserve the environment and one on which they can lie in a hammock for peace of mind, said Laura Warner, a UF assistant professor of agricultural education and communication.
Genetic improvement of food crops sometimes gets a bad rap, but University of Florida researchers plan to educate consumers so they can make more informed decisions at the grocery store.
Scientists hope to use trichoderma to supplement various pest-management methods to help control Fusarium wilt in crops including tomatoes, cantaloupes, peppers, eggplant, watermelon and strawberries.
Their goal is to make this form of ethanol less expensively than gasoline and help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
“The forests are natural draws for outdoor recreationists looking to see native Florida,” said Taylor Stein, a University of Florida professor of forest resources and conservation. Forests in Florida are home to all kinds of fascinating plants, trees and animals.
“Between a bouquet that lasts one or two weeks at most and an orchid that can stay in bloom for three months and live up for 15 years or longer, orchids are definitely a winner for any mom’s heart,” said UF/IFAS environmental horticulture professor Wagner Vendrame, an orchid expert.
The Department of Defense wants to know as far in advance as possible when and where these mass migrations are likeliest to happen. That way, the federal government can know when and where to deploy military force and where to send humanitarian aid, as just two possible examples.
Chelsea Smartt said her study’s finding supports that the mosquito species, known scientifically as Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes, can contain live Zika virus in saliva. To date the mosquito species Aedes aegypti is considered the primary carrier of Zika virus.
More than one in five fawns of white-tailed deer – the most economically important big-game mammal in the United States – can contract a malaria parasite, making fawns susceptible to diseases and death, a new study co-authored by a University of Florida researcher shows.
As a citizen scientist, Debbie Goad documents horseshoe crabs on beaches during specific times and days – for example, high tides and full moons. She and her colleagues also count breeding pairs. With Earth Day coming on April 22, Goad serves as an example of the many lay people who participate in the citizen science projects coordinated by UF/IFAS faculty.
UF/IFAS researchers are exploring all sorts of crops, including hops, artichokes, pomegranates, blackberries, olives and more.
Home and property owners often enhance their landscapes with the beautiful lantana, but some of the plant’s varieties may escape yards, spread to areas where they shouldn’t go and cross-pollinate Florida’s native lantana. Bloomify™ Rose and Bloomify™ Red are beautiful – so they will continue to enhance landscapes – but they don’t produce fruit and seeds, don’t spread and don’t cross-pollinate Florida’s native lantana, Lantana depressa, said Zhanao Deng, a professor of environmental horticulture at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
World-renowned University of Florida entomologist Nan-Yao Su came up with the idea for a termite-baiting system when he was a graduate student. Now, his peers in the pest management industry are recognizing Su for the global success of his invention, known as Sentricon®.
UF/IFAS researchers like Fred Gmitter saw some of the fruits of their labor consumed at this week’s Flavors of Florida event in Gainesville, Florida.
For some, the thought of a tarantula makes their skin crawl. Not Keara Clancy, a student in the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. The more exotic the critter, the more she embraces it. From the time she was about 5, Clancy recalls collecting millipedes as pets at her school playground.
Imagine sinking your teeth into a fat, bright red tomato, whose aroma promises a tantalizing treat. Instead, you realize you got a great looker, but not a great taster. That’s because the consumer has been left out of the breeding process. For 20 years, Harry Klee, a professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, has been using genetics to improve flavors and smells in tomatoes and other produce that induce the consumer to buy more of them.
The guidelines cover everything from planning, design and construction of the courses to water quality and quantity used. They also cover nutrition, integrated pest management, pollinator protection and energy management, said Bryan Unruh, a UF/IFAS professor of environmental horticulture.
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