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IN THIS NEWSLINE ISSUED September 29, 2006:
- E. COLI AND SPINACH
- VEGETABLE GROWTH CHAMBER AT THE SOUTH POLE
- WHEN RETAIL CENTERS LOSE CUSTOMER CALLS
- URBAN HEAT ISLANDS
- MINE TAILINGS RESEARCH
- HOW STREAMS MOVE WATER THROUGH THE WATERSHED
- OVERCOMING IRON DEFICIENCY IN LANDSCAPE PLANTS
- SEMIARID ECOYSTEMS SYMPOSIUM OCTOBER 7 ON UA CAMPUS
- RAINWATER HARVESTING CONFERENCE OCTOBER 27-28 IN TUCSON
- AGRIBUSINESS FORUM NOVEMBER 16 IN CENTRAL ARIZONA
- TWO CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE EVENTS IN JANUARY
Recent news reports regarding the presence of E. coli bacteria in spinach has left consumers questioning the safety of many of the vegetables they eat.
Farmers in the Yuma area grow a majority of the nation's winter salad crop, with new fields only now being planted for harvest in December and January.
Sources of irrigation water, post-harvest sanitization and handling techniques are all being scrutinized to ensure the health and safety of consumers.
The US Food and Drug Administration Web site, http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01458.html has the latest, updated information on this health concern.
Jorge Fonseca, Yuma Agricultural Center
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/crops/vegetables/quality/index.html
2 VEGETABLE GROWTH CHAMBER AT THE SOUTH POLE
The University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center's food growth chamber is now up and running at the South Pole. The chamber produces fresh vegetables in nutrient-filled water to augment the diets of staff working at the South Pole station, where temperatures can fall as low as minus 118 degrees Fahrenheit (-100 C).
The chamber not only provides fresh vegetables, it also offers those living at the South Pole a psychological boost.
To see a video produced by KUAT for the Arizona Illustrated program about the South Pole Food Growth Chamber go to the link below.
Gene Giacomelli, Controlled Environment Agriculture Center
To learn more:
http://kuat.org/details.cfm?ID=198
3 WHEN RETAIL CENTERS LOSE CUSTOMER CALLS
How many retailers lose a potential sale as a result of the failure to adequately handle a customer's phone call? And how many customers' calls go unserved?
Understanding the impact of this service failure could have major impact for retailers. Investigation of the inbound telephone channel is of importance to retailers for several reasons. First, an average store receives several hundred calls every day. Second, in most cases these calls are from existing or potential customers making inquiries prior to making a purchase. Third, call failure is likely to have an effect on sales and customer satisfaction as well as word of mouth and other outcomes.
Researchers in the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing are studying this phenomenon of "inbound retail telephony" and the dynamics of call failure.
Eric Arnould, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/fcs/tlc/research/InboundRetailTelephony_Arnould.pdf
Metropolitan areas that become significantly warmer than the surrounding environment are called urban heat islands (UHI).
The urban heat island might be viewed as an unintended consequence of urban growth and development: UHI results when cityscapes are built up and built over. The workings of the UHI are generally understood. Urban areas are increasingly becoming "hot spots"--their impervious paved surfaces and reduced vegetation resulting in less of the sun's incoming radiant energy reflected back into the atmosphere.
The unreflected heat is stored by asphalt, brick, concrete and other materials that make up much of the urban environment. These have greater thermal storage capacity than natural surfaces. Energy stored during the day and released after sunset results in higher nighttime temperatures, in other words, the UHI effect.
UHI effects are most pronounced at nighttime. In 1948, Phoenix's average nighttime low temperature was 75 degrees; in 2003 it had increased to 86.7 degrees. Some researchers say that 100-degree nights will be the norm sometime in the future.
For more information on UHI and its effects on water resources in the state, go to the link below.
Joe Gelt, Water Resources Research Center
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/AZWATER/awr/septoct06/feature1.html
On windy days, blowing dust from Arizona's 300,000-plus mining claims ends up in the state's air and water. Laden with lead, arsenic and other metals, the dust poses long-term health hazards, including anemia, kidney problems, cardiovascular disorders and several forms of cancer.
Vegetation reduces erosion, but plants generally won't grow on the leftover piles of rubble and processed ore known as mine tailings. Mining sites all over the western United States and Mexico have tailings piles, some of which stretch for acres and acres and have been almost devoid of plants for more than 100 years.
Some piles are so toxic and the material is so unlike soil that nothing grows there. Researchers from the CALS Department of Soil, Water and Enviromental Science are investigating easy, low-cost ways to revegetate mine tailings with native plants. Because mining sites are often off the beaten path, researchers are looking at ways that will involve the least amount of site preparation, fertilizer and maintenance needed for plants to grow in such places.
Raina M. Maier, Soil, Water and Environmental Science
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/general/resrpt2005/article3_2005.pdf
6 HOW STREAMS MOVE WATER THROUGH THE WATERSHED
Streams are readily identifiable in the landscape. Looking down from an airplane you may be able to pick them out of the landscape as winding, twisting or straight lines that tend to branch off and eventually become smaller and smaller toward the higher elevations of a watershed. From an aerial view you may also be able to identify their end points in lakes, reservoirs, larger rivers or oceans.
Streams are natural linear configurations in the land surface that transport water and sediment. They are characterized by water moving under the influence of gravity that flows through defined channels to progressively lower elevations.
"Stream Processes for Watershed Stewards" is a new publication with full-color diagrams that explains the hydrologic cycle, precipitation and human effects on streams and watersheds. The publication, which is part of the Master Watershed Steward program (http://cals.arizona.edu/watershedsteward/), can be used as a teacher's guide for a variety of class settings, from formal high school science classes to informal volunteer trainings.
George Zaimes and Robert Emanuel, School of Natural Resources
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1378g.pdf
7 OVERCOMING IRON DEFICIENCY IN LANDSCAPE PLANTS
Iron deficiency is very common in our non-native plants in the low desert. Roses, citrus, deciduous fruit trees, hibiscus, pyracantha, bougainvillaea and crape myrtle are just a few of the plants commonly affected by iron deficiency.
It's relatively easy to identify plants suffering from a lack of iron. The youngest leaves will be yellow to nearly buff in color, and in most cases the veins of the leaf will remain green. This pattern of green veins against a yellow background is very distinctive.
Chelated iron is a soluble form of iron that plants can absorb through their roots even in alkaline soils. Not all forms of iron sold in local garden centers and nurseries are chelated. Although these other forms, such as iron sulfate, are significantly less expensive, they just don't work in desert soils.
A publication on iron deficiency in desert soils is available at cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1415.pdf.
For the full article that appeared in the Arizona Daily Star on September 10, 2006, go to the link below.
John P. Begeman, Pima County Cooperative Extension.
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/media/archives/18.7.html
8 SEMIARID ECOYSTEMS SYMPOSIUM OCTOBER 7 ON UA CAMPUS
The third annual "Research Insights in Semiarid Ecosystems (RISE)" Symposium will feature invited speakers presenting recent research on the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed and the UA Santa Rita Experimental Range, or new reflections on earlier work conducted at either site. The goal is to encourage future research activities at the watershed and experimental range and to promote them as outdoor scientific laboratories.
There will be time for questions from the audience, which will be made up of federal agency and university researchers, students, and stakeholders from southern Arizona.
Topics include the impact of woody debris on desert grasslands, the adoption of an adaptive managment grazing plan on the Santa Rita Experimental Range, wind and water erosion effects on alternate land use areas, and other topics. A poster session will feature faculty and student research projects.
The symposium will be held Saturday, October 7, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Marley Auditorium (Room 230) on the UA campus. The registration fee of $20.00 ($7.00 for students) includes lunch.
Mitch McClaran, School of Natural Resources
To learn more:
http://tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/
9 RAINWATER HARVESTING CONFERENCE OCTOBER 27-28 IN TUCSON
Homeowners, architects, developers, engineers and earthworkers interested in learning more about the potential of harvesting and using rainwater are encouraged to attend a rainwater harvesting conference October 27-28 in Tucson. "Looking Ahead: Managing Stormwater and Harvesting Rainwater for Conservation" is co-sponsored by the Southwest Chapter of the Consortium for Action Throughout the Community for Harvesting (CATCH) Water.
The conference will focus on the management of stormwater and rainwater to satisfy federal stormwater requirements while using the harvested water to reduce demand and/or recharge groundwater supplies.
Emphasis will be given to the design of sites in the pre-development stage for beneficial water management. Homeowner projects will also be discussed. Post-conference tours on October 28 will take participants to rainwater and stormwater harvesting sites around the Tucson area.
James Riley, Soil, Water and Environmental Science
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/catchwater/ARCSAConference/Welcome-conference.htm
10 AGRIBUSINESS FORUM NOVEMBER 16 IN CENTRAL ARIZONA
"Agriculture, Food and the Environment" is the theme for the 21st annual Agribusiness Forum to be held Thursday, November 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino Resort near Maricopa, Arizona.
Hosted by the CALS Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, the program will include keynote speakers and panel discussions on such topics as the contribution of agriculture and tourism to Arizona's economy, Arizona land use issues, organic agriculture trends, biotechnology in Arizona, ethanol as a new market for Arizona agriculture, water quality and water planning, and invasive species.
The forum costs $75 before November 1 and $100 after. Students can attend for $40. For registration information see the link below.
Russell Tronstad, Agricultural & Resource Economics
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/arec/dept/agbusforum2006.html
11 TWO CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE EVENTS IN JANUARY
Now in its seventh year, the Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course offers three days of intensive education and practical experiences in the science of hydroponic crop production and the engineering of controlled environments. The short course is sponsored by the CALS Controlled Environment Agriculture Center and will be held January 14-17 at the Doubletree Hotel in Tucson.
The course format offers attendees multiple opportunities to interact with some of the world's leading greenhouse experts. Participants will be provided with a "roadmap" and the knowledge necessary to develop a successful greenhouse operation, including: monitoring and managing greenhouse environments; learning the "lingo"--IPM, pH, EC, etc.; assessing the environmental responses of plants; practicing IPM and pest management, and proper post-harvest handling.
The Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design short course will be followed by a separate event, the Growers Marketing Forum (GMF3) that runs from January 17-19, also at the Doubletree Hotel. The GMF3 gives greenhouse and field growers important insights and knowledge on how to succeed in the vegetable and specialty crop marketplace. Attendees will learn from the experts about entry into wholesale and retail markets, optimal market sizes and types, distribution, branding and packaging. Also included is a tour to a state-of-the-art greenhouse tomato production and packing facility.
To register for either event, go to the link below.
Gene Giacomelli, Controlled Environment Agriculture Center
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/ceac/
To find out about available CALS publications and upcoming events, go
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