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Bobcat Introduces TL623 Telehandler
Jessica Schwartz
About To Enjoy Easter Chocolates? Thank The Scientists Working On Cacao Plant Diseases
If you celebrate Easter, chances are you’ll enjoy more than your fair share of chocolate on Sunday. And while those delicious bunnies, eggs and other goodies seem as plentiful as (ahem) baby rabbit production, some experts worry that one day demand for chocolate may exceed supply. Chocolate is made from cacao beans, and research shows that 20% to 40% of the world’s cacao beans are lost to cacao plant diseases. This presents a major problem as the confectionary industry depends heavily on chocolate. Similarly, chocolate candies are also a major market for U.S. agricultural commodities such as peanuts, almonds, milk, and sugar. Demand for chocolate has been steadily increasing and there is a fear that one day cacao plant diseases may prevent enough cacao bean production to meet consumer need. Black pod rot is responsible for the greatest production losses in cacao, primarily because it can be found in every region where cacao is commercially grown. The disease is caused by several species of fungal-like organisms called oomycetes that spread rapidly on cacao pods under humid conditions. Within days of being infected, cacao pods turn black and rotten, rendering them useless for harvesting. There are also several viruses that affect cacao plants. One, the cacao mild mosaic virus (CaMMV) is not believed to affect the cacao pod’s flavor, but it can cause a mosaic pattern on infected pods that leads to the production of abnormally small pods, as well as the loss of entire branches. Once thought to only exist ...
About To Enjoy Easter Chocolates? Thank The Scientists Working On Cacao Plant Diseases
If you celebrate Easter, chances are you’ll enjoy more than your fair share of chocolate on Sunday. And while those delicious bunnies, eggs and other goodies seem as plentiful as (ahem) baby rabbit production, some experts worry that one day demand for chocolate may exceed supply. Chocolate is made from cacao beans, and research shows that 20% to 40% of the world’s cacao beans are lost to cacao plant diseases. This presents a major problem as the confectionary industry depends heavily on chocolate. Similarly, chocolate candies are also a major market for U.S. agricultural commodities such as peanuts, almonds, milk, and sugar. Demand for chocolate has been steadily increasing and there is a fear that one day cacao plant diseases may prevent enough cacao bean production to meet consumer need. Black pod rot is responsible for the greatest production losses in cacao, primarily because it can be found in every region where cacao is commercially grown. The disease is caused by several species of fungal-like organisms called oomycetes that spread rapidly on cacao pods under humid conditions. Within days of being infected, cacao pods turn black and rotten, rendering them useless for harvesting. There are also several viruses that affect cacao plants. One, the cacao mild mosaic virus (CaMMV) is not believed to affect the cacao pod’s flavor, but it can cause a mosaic pattern on infected pods that leads to the production of abnormally small pods, as well as the loss of entire branches. Once thought to only exist ...
RISE Elects Leadership, Honors Volunteers During 31st Annual Meeting
Nearly 500 participants representing companies that provide pest and plant health solutions for the specialty pesticide and agriculture markets met in Aventura, FL September 12-15, 2021 to collaborate, strengthen relationships and share information. The joint annual meeting of RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment)® and CropLife America took place virtually and in-person. RISE President Megan Provost, who joined the association in December 2019 before the pandemic, led her first in-person annual meeting and encouraged meaningful collaboration and engagement. “Advocacy is always more effective when we build and maintain strong partnerships,” said Provost. “By collaborating and engaging meaningfully with our internal and external audiences, by convening a forum for partnership and information-sharing, and by amplifying our collective impact by acting as a force-multiplier, RISE can build and develop our membership and our coalitions to promote and protect access to pesticides and fertilizers.” New Governing Board Members The RISE Governing Board elected one new member during the meeting: Bill Culpepper, SePRO Corporation. The Board also elected its 2022 Executive Committee: Stephanie Jensen, Chair, BASF John Smith, Vice Chair, AMGUARD Environmental Technologies Karen Larson, Treasurer, Clarke Completing his term on the Governing Board is Neil Cleveland, PBI/Gordon Corporation. Those continuing their terms on the 2022 Governing Board are: Daryl Allen, Corteva Agriscience Kathy Bishop, Lebanon Seaboard Corporation John Johnson, Prokoz, Inc. Scott Lazarczyk, SBM Life Sciences Todd Mason, Sipcam Agro USA Jose Milan, Bayer Blaine Pinkerton, Nufarm Americas, Inc. Scott Reasons, Syngenta Brian Rowan, SiteOne Landscape Supply Nadia Sinno, FMC Corporation RISE ...
RISE Elects Leadership, Honors Volunteers During 31st Annual Meeting
Nearly 500 participants representing companies that provide pest and plant health solutions for the specialty pesticide and agriculture markets met in Aventura, FL September 12-15, 2021 to collaborate, strengthen relationships and share information. The joint annual meeting of RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment)® and CropLife America took place virtually and in-person. RISE President Megan Provost, who joined the association in December 2019 before the pandemic, led her first in-person annual meeting and encouraged meaningful collaboration and engagement. “Advocacy is always more effective when we build and maintain strong partnerships,” said Provost. “By collaborating and engaging meaningfully with our internal and external audiences, by convening a forum for partnership and information-sharing, and by amplifying our collective impact by acting as a force-multiplier, RISE can build and develop our membership and our coalitions to promote and protect access to pesticides and fertilizers.” New Governing Board Members The RISE Governing Board elected one new member during the meeting: Bill Culpepper, SePRO Corporation. The Board also elected its 2022 Executive Committee: Stephanie Jensen, Chair, BASF John Smith, Vice Chair, AMGUARD Environmental Technologies Karen Larson, Treasurer, Clarke Completing his term on the Governing Board is Neil Cleveland, PBI/Gordon Corporation. Those continuing their terms on the 2022 Governing Board are: Daryl Allen, Corteva Agriscience Kathy Bishop, Lebanon Seaboard Corporation John Johnson, Prokoz, Inc. Scott Lazarczyk, SBM Life Sciences Todd Mason, Sipcam Agro USA Jose Milan, Bayer Blaine Pinkerton, Nufarm Americas, Inc. Scott Reasons, Syngenta Brian Rowan, SiteOne Landscape Supply Nadia Sinno, FMC Corporation RISE ...
New Online Training Series For Landscape Workers
Penn State Extension, working with the landscape industry, is offering a new online workforce training series aimed at new and seasonal landscape industry employees. The series, which consists of six online courses, is targeted at entry-level or seasonal landscape employees and provides timely training in the subjects and areas that employees need to get started. Business owners can register their employees to take the online training as part of their onboarding process. The “Employee Landscape Training” series currently includes: “Pruning Basics;” “New Lawn Establishment;” “Planting, Mulching and Watering;” “Symptoms and Signs of Plant Health Problems;” and “Introduction to Soils.” The final course, “Reading Landscape Plans,” will be available in April. “Workforce training videos and knowledge-check questions show beginning workers how to accomplish basic landscaping tasks and supply them with the knowledge to do their jobs,” said Ruth Benner, extension educator who is coordinating the course series. “Each of the six online courses has a quiz at the end, and participants will need to achieve a passing score to receive a certificate of completion.” Dan Eichenlaub, owner-operator of Pittsburgh landscape company Eichenlaub Inc. and past president of the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association (PLNA), consulted with Penn State Extension in creating the series to be sure it addressed the landscape industry’s needs. He contends that this extension-industry collaboration presents a significant value proposition to business owners. “By training new employees online, we want to help landscaping companies realize a return sooner than in the past,” he said. “For years in our ...
Study Finds Plants “Panic” When It Rains
To a plant, rain is life-sustaining water. So why has an international team of scientists made the surprising discovery that a plant’s reaction to rain is close to one of panic? It’s not as illogical as you might think. The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last fall revealed complex chemical signals involving the plant’s defenses are triggered when water lands on a plant. “As to why plants would need to panic when it rains, strange as it sounds, rain is actually the leading cause of disease spreading between plants,” said researcher Professor Harvey Millar of the University of Western Australia’s School of Molecular Sciences and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology. He added, “When a raindrop splashes across a leaf, tiny droplets of water ricochet in all directions. These droplets can contain bacteria, viruses, or fungal spores. A single droplet can spread these up to 10 metres to surrounding plants.” Millar said after spraying plants with water and observing the effect, the researchers noticed a chain reaction in the plant caused by a protein called Myc2. “When Myc2 is activated, thousands of genes spring into action preparing the plant’s defenses,” commented Millar. “These warning signals travel from leaf to leaf and induce a range of protective effects.” Evidence also suggests that when it rains, the same signals spreading across leaves are transmitted to nearby plants through the air. “One of the chemicals produced is a hormone called jasmonic acid that is used ...
