FRESNO, Calif. — The state’s top agricultural scientists will gather in downtown Fresno Feb. 6-7 for the American Society of Agronomy, California Chapter, 2018 California Plant and Soil Conference.
The conference comes at a key time for the California farmers and allied industries.
“There has been a flurry of new state regulation in recent years that the industry must contend with, increasing the needs for grower certification and training,” said Dan Munk, irrigation and soils advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in Fresno County. “Never before has grower education and training been more critical for irrigated agriculture in the state.”
The conference will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel & Fresno Convention Center, 2233 Ventura St.
At 9:30 a.m. Feb. 6, California Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross opens the event by providing her thoughts on how California agriculture can move forward given recent droughts, floods and increased environmental restrictions as well as increased grower reporting, certification and compliance requirements.
Following Ross’s remarks, three speakers will discuss timely topics at the intersection of water and nutrient management. The speakers are:
Patrick Brown, UC Davis
Topic: Barriers to the adoption of recommended nutrient and water management practices
Sarah Beganska, UC Santa Cruz
Topic: Addressing groundwater recharge with an eye to water quality
Tim Hartz, UC Davis
Topic: Irrigation effects on nitrogen efficiency
The remainder of the two-day conference contains 12 sessions, presented by scientists from the University of California, UC Cooperative Extension, Fresno State, Oregon State, NASA, USDA and industry. Session presentations are slated to cover nutrient management, emerging technologies for improved crop management, pest management, site-specific management, soil biology and soil health, sustainable use of water, applied crop management and managing farm energy.
More information and the complete agenda are available on the conference website, http://calasa.
–UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
For more articles out of California, click here.