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Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Research and Extension Updates From the Director:
Our goal is to provide the faculty with the latest news from the Center research
projects and extension activities, and other timely information items. Please
feel free to use the contents of the newsletter in your county newsletters and
education activities as you wish. If you'd like additional details on newsletter
items, contact the faculty member author or our editor, Cheryl Vergot. Dates of Interest January 10: Master Tree Farmer Course Registration Deadline January 11: Watermelon
Meeting: Jackson County January 11-12: Grape
Meeting January 18: Dooryard
Fruits Pruning Update Demonstration, 3:00 p.m. January 25 and February 1, 8,
15, 22: Beef Cattle Management Short Course February 13: Home Vegetable
Gardening Demonstration 4:00 p.m. February 15: Panhandle
(NW Florida) February 16: Winter
Florida Bull Test Sale February 19-20: Fed Cattle Show, Jackson County Ag Center February 24: Wakulla
Swine Show March 1: Beef
Cattle Management Course March 6: Panhandle
Peanut Short Course More Info on Dates Watermelon/Cucurbit Meeting TENTATIVE AGENDA WATERMELON AND CUCURBIT MEETING THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2001 12:50 P.M./6:20 P.M.*–OPENING REMARKS/INTRODUCTIONS– EXTENSION AGENTS 1:00 P.M./6:30 P.M–CULTURAL PRACTICES/IRRIGATION & FERTILIZER RELATIONS–DR.
STEVE OLSON, 1:30 P.M./7:00 P.M.–DISEASE CONTROL FOR MELONS AND CUCURBITS– DR. TIM
MOMOL, NORTH 2:00 P.M./7:30 P.M. –BREAK (OPTIONAL) FOR REFRESHMENTS/VISITING 2:15 P.M/7:45 P.M..-- VARIETIES AND FERTILIZATION OF WATERMELONS AND
CUCURBITS–DR. ERIC 2:45 P.M./8:15 P.M– INSECT CONTROL FOR MELONS AND CUCURBITS IN SPRING AND
FALL CROPS– 3:15 P.M./8:45 P.M.—GROWERS AND BROKERS PANEL –HOW TO DEAL WITH EACH
OTHER, AND LABOR 3:45 P.M./9:15 P.M– CLOSING REMARKS/ADJOURN- LOCAL EXTENSION AGENT * TIMES AND BREAKS AT OPTION OF LOCAL EXTENSION AGENT. SPEAKERS TO ALLOW TIME
FOR PERSONNEL NOTES A change of hats for Stan Hendley, who
has been Biological Scientist for Dr. Jimmy Rich, NFREC-Quincy: PROGRAM UPDATES Entomology GENE BARRIER COULD HELP WITH 'GENETIC CONTAMINATION’ PROBLEM Working with teosinte, a wild cousin of maize, a University of Wisconsin scientist has found a molecular barrier that, bred into modern hybrid corn, is capable of completely locking out foreign genes, including those from genetically modified corn. The discovery is important because it means farmers will have access to technology that can ensure the genetic integrity of their corn crop, making it easier to export to countries wary of recombinant DNA technology. It also would provide a built-in buffer for potential environmental problems, such as the threat to monarch butterflies from corn engineered to make its own biological insecticides. Corn varieties of all kinds -- from organic to genetically engineered -- are prolific traffickers in genes. Cross-fertilization between strains occurs as gene-laden pollen is carried by bees or blown with the wind from one field to another. The resulting contamination, especially from genetically modified corn, can ruin organic crops or make traditional hybrid corn worthless for export to countries where consumers are wary of the new technology. The new, patented discovery, however, could permit American farmers to recapture those profitable markets in Europe and Asia by ensuring that organic or traditional hybrid corn is uncontaminated by genes from genetically modified crops. Moreover, the new technology can be used by farmers to plant buffers around fields of corn genetically modified to make their own insecticides and thereby limiting a highly-publicized threat to non-target species such as monarch butterflies. For thousands of years, teosinte has co-existed as a weed with the maize cultivated in Mexican fields. Like corn, teosinte is a grass and its genetic makeup is so similar to that of cultivated maize that scientists suspect the genetic differences between the two plants may be confined to a mere handful of genes. Teosinte, in fact, is corn's likely ancestor. Despite this genetic affinity -- and the ease with which cultivated corn plants exchanges genes through cross-pollination -- the teosinte strains that grow as weeds within Mexican corn fields only rarely acquire genes from cultivated corn. Today, about 22.6 percent of the corn grown in the United States is exported
to other countries, 8 percent is used for sweeteners, 2.6 percent for starch, 5
percent is used in the manufacture of alcohol, and 1.2 percent is used in
products for human consumption. A little more than 50 percent of the U.S. corn
crop is used for animal feed. But even in the animal feed market, there is a
growing interest in corn certified as a non-genetically modified organism,
especially for organic livestock production that requires grain produced by
plants that are not genetically engineered. Using traditional breeding methods,
the genetic barrier is being transferred to hybrid corn and testing quantities
of seed should be available through seed companies in 2002 and commercial
quantities for planting by farmers are possible by the year 2003. For more
information see Information on Managing the Multicolored Lady Beetle Indoors By now, most homeowners are familiar with the tendency of the multicolored
Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, to show up inside of buildings during the
winter. This beneficial lady beetle is native to Asia and was imported and
released in the United States as early as 1916 in an attempt to naturally
control certain insect pests. The USDA-ARS has included a fact sheet on its web
site providing information on the biology and of the beetle. Environmental Horticulture GEORGIA/FLORIDA GREEN INDUSTRY UPDATES - The eighth annual
Georgia/Florida Green Industry Updates were recently held in Cairo and
Kingsland, Ga., and Tallahassee, Florida. The updates are a cooperative
effort of the Georgia and Florida Cooperative Extension Service to serve the
grower, landscape and retail segments of the Green Industry in south Georgia and
north Florida. The updates were initiated in 1993 with one site and 35
attendees. The multi-state cooperative effort has grown to the current
three sites and participation by 420 industry professionals. Thought for the
Day: Expect more than others think
is possible; dream more than Cheryl Vergot, Public Relations The Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences is an Equal Employment Opportunity Affirmative Action
Employer authorized to provide research, educational information and other
services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to
race, color, sex, age handicap or national origin. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE, FAMILY & CONSUMER SERVICES, STATE OF FLORIDA, IFAS, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, AND BOARDS OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER COOPERATING An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution |
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For IFAS-related
questions or information, please contact IFAS
External Relations.
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