Posts Tagged: Mark Hoddle

Two Asian citrus psyllids found in Tulare County

This week a quarantine goes into effect in some parts of Tulare County to stop the spread of Asian citrus psyllid, according to a 3-minute story on The California Report. The decision comes after officials found ACP in traps near Strathmore and Terra Bella. For an update on the pest and the disease it can carry, The California Report's Rachael Myrow spoke with Mark Hoddle, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside.

Myrow asked why the effort to prevent movement of ACP has not been successful.

"It's very difficult to police the movement of all types of citrus plants in and out of infested areas," Hoddle said. "People may accidentally and unwittingly move plants that have Asian citrus psyllid on them out of infested areas in Southern California to uninfested areas. Another way these psyllids may move is they potentially have the ability to hitchhike on farm machinery or even vehicles."

Listen to the full interview here:

Some citrus orchards in Tulare County will have to comply with quarantine restrictions.

Natural enemy of Asian citrus psyllid taking hold

A tiny wasp imported from Pakistan by a UC Riverside researcher is becoming established in the Inland Empire, according to an article by Mark Muckenfuss in the Riverside Press Enterprise.

Mark Hoddle, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, collected Tamarixia radiata in the Punjab region of Paskistan. After a period of quarantine, the beneficial insect was released in Southern California citrus trees beginning in December 2011.

The Press-Enterprise article said Hoddle has found three sites — two in Fontana, one in San Bernardino — where the wasp has attacked psyllid larvae, killing them.

“We’re trying to understand how big an impact this wasp is having on the Asian citrus psyllid,” Hoddle said. “It’s too early to make estimates, but (the finds are) encouraging.”

For more details on the establishment of Tamarixia, see the UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research blog.

Olive oil's heath benefits? It's a slippery question
Katherine Tallmadge, The Washington Post

Polyphenols are what make olive oil more healthful than other vegetable oils, like canola oil. However, when tested, polyphenols were surprisingly low in most commercially available olive oils, USDA-ARS researchers reported. They also don't live up to international or USDA quality standards, according to studies by the UC Davis Olive Center.

Studies show that, as days, weeks and months go by after harvest, the polyphenol content and health benefits of the oil diminish.

“Think of olive oil as olive juice with a maximum two-year shelf life,” says Selina Wang, research director at the Olive Center.

Covenant between almond growers and researchers
Bob Curtis and Gabriele Ludwig, The Almond Board, Western Farm Press

If managed well, commercial trials can provide benefits for growers, researchers and the industry at large, but they can pose challenges. Almond research plots are a covenant between the grower and researcher that requires both parties to communicate and understand the goal of the research.

Bruce Lampinen, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, says involving grower cooperators offers the research community the benefit of gathering commercial data to test promising practices or understand impacts in a real-world setting. Without this research, many of today's common practices that have led to dramatic increases in yield and improved quality, along with efficient and environmentally responsible orchard management, would not have been discovered.

HLB detected in LA area

The dreaded Huanglongbing, a devastating citrus disease, was detected in a Los Angeles County neighborhood last week, reported Diana Marcum and Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times. It is the first confirmed case of the disease in California.

Asian citrus psyllid, which can spread the bacteria that cause the disease, is already infesting Southern California. Rachael Myrow of the California Report blogged about interviewing Mark Hoddle, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, in January about his efforts to fight the psyllid by releasing Punjabi wasps.

Beth Grafton-Cardwell, UC Cooperative Extension specialist based at UC Riverside and director of the Lindcove Research & Extension Center, has been educating backyard gardeners and commercial growers how to identify and control the insect.

UCR scientists continue release of psyllid enemies in SoCal

Mark Hoddle, an entomologist and director of the Center for Invasive Species Research at UC Riverside, along with a team of researchers, has been traveling across Southern California releasing Tamarixia radiata, stingless wasps that lay eggs and kill Asian citrus psyllid larva, wrote Joe Nelson in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

An exotic species in California, psyllids feed on citrus or close relatives of citrus and can spread a bacterium that causes Huanglongbing (HLB) disease.

"It's a death sentence for a citrus tree," said CDFA spokesman Steve Lyle. "The only thing left to do with the trees is to cut them down and burn them, and that would be devastating to the citrus industry."

To date, HLB has not been found in California. However, Lyle said its arrival is "not a matter of if, but when."

New CSUF projects help in fight against obesity
Danny Chau, The Daily Titan

Cal State Fullerton received more than $800,000 in grants from USDA to fund three new projgrams on campus that will promote nutrition education and the fight against childhood obesity.

The project will train 80 diverse students in nutrition and childhood obesity.

“The nice thing about it is the students will get exposure to leading scientists in the field and by our collaboration with UC Davis,” said Archana J. McEligot, associate professor of health science at CSUF.

Salmon suffering because of scant rain

Coho salmon are still in the Russian River's main stem rather than in the tributaries where they are usually spawning this time of year because of this winter's lack of rain, wrote Bob Norbert in the Press Democrat.

Biologists are concerned about any harm done to coho, a fish which is being coaxed back from the brink of extinction but still numbers only in the hundreds.

“There is so much invested in bringing these coho back, from the hatchery program to the restoration work in Dry Creek to the monitoring,” said Mariska Obedzinski, who is monitoring the coho recovery program for the UC Cooperative Extension. “For someone to go out and accidentally catch one when they are in the river, when they could kill or harm them, it is discouraging.”

Corps of Engineers leads coalition effort to save coho salmon
JC Delgadillo, www.army.mil, The U.S. Army

In the winter of 2011, biologists funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers counted a record number of wild juvenile coho salmon in the downstream portions of the Russian River system in western Sonoma County. The project is conducted in collaboration with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, experts at the University of California Cooperative Extension and the Sonoma County Water Agency.

"It's quite the group we have working together," said supervisory fisheries biologist Ben White of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "You've got the best scientific knowledge in the region and people with a deep passion for coho recovery. You've got leaders among their peers working this issue, and I'm proud to be a part of it. You wouldn't be in this field if you didn't care about these fish, and everybody involved wants to see them recover."

Scientists release wasps to control citrus pest
Jeff Spurrier, L.A. at Home blog, Los Angeles Times

On Jan. 6, UC Riverside bio-control specialist Mark Hoddle released 300 tiny parasitic wasps from Pakistan in the L.A. County cities of Pico Rivera, Bell Gardens and South Gate to feed on the Asian citrus psyllid.

The article mentioned that curry leaf, an herb used in Indian cuisine, can be a host for the Asian citrus psyllid.

“If someone has curry leaf and are in the L.A. area, we’d be interested in looking at their plants and maybe using them for our parasite release,” Hoddle said.

The reality of extreme weather, Part 1
Lynne Friedmann, La Jolla Light

It’s not your imagination. Weather is becoming more “extreme,” leading to prolonged heat waves, heavier precipitation, severe flooding, more powerful hurricanes, and intense snowstorms.

Especially problematic is a trend toward long heat waves, during which morality increases, and more humid heat waves resulting in higher nighttime temperatures.

Evening “chill hours” in which the temperature drops below 450º F are also critical for agriculture.

“There are three million acres of fruit orchards with chilling requirements,” said Louise Jackson, UC Cooperative Extension plant physiology specialist. “Increasing humid heat also impacts red wine grape yields.”

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