Crop Protection Benefit Article of the Week:

August 25th, 2009

Today's article for the Benefit Article of the Week we believe is a great look at why innovation in agriculture is as important today as it ever has been. One of the critical features of agriculture is it is a constantly developing field. As products are created to battle invasive pests there will always be new threats that develop in habitats they have not seen before. Therefore it is critical that the industry continues to fund extensive research and development so farmers can stay on their toes in order to keep feeding the world around them.

This week's article is from the July 22nd issue of Ag Alert, a publication of the California Farm Bureau. It is entitled "New Fungicides combat white rot in onions, garlic" and describes how in recent years white rot has been slowly been invading more and more fields in California to the point where it is now described as:

"Almost impossible to get rid of...absolutely devastating and the disease has expanded so much in the valley that the choices are becoming limited as to where growers can grow onion and garlic crops," Turini [University of California Extension vegetable crops advisor] said.

When onion and garlic farmers are faced with a growing threat like this that "can destroy 100 percent of the crop" and once established "can survive in the soil for decades" what are they to do? Many of these farmers have been working this land for generations, are they supposed to pack up because now their crop is infected for decades?

Of course not.

Luckily for farmers crop innovation is as strong as ever and already researchers are discovering new way to to combat these diseases. Starting this year a new fungicide, Folicar, has been registered which,

"when applied at 20.5 ounces at planting, the disease severity was substantially reduced adn the yield doubled as compared to the untreated control."

This story of white rot creeping up in California is only one story of many in the battle against invasive pests. Here at CLF we could not emphasize the need more for further innovation in the crop protection industry. We have made great strides in the industry to stay on the cutting edge against disease and insects but every day there are new threats. It is critical that the industry continue to strongly fund its research and development as it does right now to stay ahead of them and continue to help farmers feed a growing world.

As always please e-mail any and all comments here

[New fungicides combat white rot in onions, garlic] - reprinted with permission from Ag Alert

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August 19th, 2009

As per our original post the main goal of the Crop Protection Benefit Article of the Week is to help inform you of the role crop protection products play in our everyday lives. Usually this means articles like the last two addressing the effect of modern day products on crops. However in order to totally understand why we use crop protection products sometimes you have to go wayyyy back to when certain practices first began. This is where this week's article comes from. It is an article from the October 16th, 1962 issue of California Agriculture entitled:

"Soil Fumigation Found Essential for Maximum Strawberry Yields in Southern California."

Soil fumigation today is a very common practice within the conventional agriculture community but when this article was published in 1962 it was landmark in establishing the benefits of soil fumigation. When the researchers used it on strawberries they found:

"Yield increases as high as 85 percent were reported...control of plant pathogens were excellent"

All of this achieved (with a statistically significant five percent level of significance) with a chemical mixture of methyl bromide and chloropicrin that regardless of the method in which they used it,

"improved fruit yields significantly....The improved top growth was apparent beginning about one month after planting...The effect of this difference in growth was reflected in improved yields, beginning about the second week of production until the end of harvest."

It is very important to recognize the importance of a discovery like methyl bromide as a soil fumigant. One of the biggest challenges today that faces organic strawberry growers in California is their inability to use fumigants. As a result they are often faced with yield losses of up to 50%. Without the use of conventional crop protection products like soil fumigants there is no way we could produce the same level of strawberries we currently have today.

As always please e-mail any and all comments here

[California Agriculture: Soil Fumigation Found Essential for Maximum Strawberry Yields in Southern California]

October 1962 Issue

Bonus link: California Agriculture Archives dating back 60 years!

August 12th, 2009

This week's Benefit Article of the Week highlights the efforts of the Ivory Coast government to treat black pod disease on cocoa plants.

Black pod disease has always been a major issue of Cocoa producers in Ivory Coast. If left untreated this disease has been known to destroy up to 90% of the cocoa crop!

Last month Bloomberg News highlighted the exactly how the government plans on increasing their crop yields through increase disease control:

"Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, expects to boost production during the 2009-2010 harvest as the government increases the amount of pesticides distributed to farmers"

Government officials have recognized that after last year when they reduced the amount of pesticides used and saw crop yields suffer, the logical solution is to boost pesticide use in order to boost their yields. Experts seem positive about the development. Fernaud Koffi, an official for the Government Fund for Developing and Promoting Coffee and Cocoa Activities reported:

"These products should have an immediate effect...if treatment is carried out properly, we will see a positive impact on the 2009-2010 season."

This is a very interesting article to note because as many NGOs and organizations seem to be focused on restricting crop technology in Africa it is important to remember why we use crop protection technology and not stop these countries from having a full arsenal of tools to prevent diseases like black pod.

[Bloomberg News: Ivory Coast May Boost Cocoa Output with Increased Pesticide Use]

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August 4th, 2009

Welcome to the Inaugural post of the CropLife Foundation's Crop Protection Benefit Article of the Week! It is on our Article of the Week blog here that we will do our best to bring to your attention the best and most informative articles that we believe will help you come to understand and appreciate the role crop protection products play in our lives today. We will be adding the comment ability soon, but until then feel free to e-mail your comments!

Our inaugural article comes from the Washington Post last week entitled "In Growing Peach Trees, There are Pitfalls Aplenty." The article describes the sheer impossibility growers face if they attempt to grow Peaches organically in the eastern United States:

"Spraying is the most unsettling, but necessary aspect of peach cultivation. After a wet spring, "I have got 12 sprays on these trees," Gouin says ...... he says it is impossible to raise pristine peaches organically in the wet and humid eastern United States."

Gouin continues on to describe the only method available to even marginally control the diseases of the peach:

"Some authorities suggest that organic sulfur spray might contorl fungal diseases. Gouin says that it saves about half the fruit, but the grower will have to remove others that develop brown rot to prevent the spread of the spores and disease."

So the only way in which to control diseases of the peach without fungicides is to discard half of your crop? This does not seem like a practical strategy for a farmer trying make a living.

[Washington Post: In Growing Peach Trees, There are Pitfalls Aplenty]

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