IN THIS NEWSLINE ISSUED FEB 27, 2003:

1. RICE GENOME SEQUENCING
2. DRY BEAN TRIALS
3. WHAT JAVELINA WON'T EAT
4. EARLY COTTON DEVELOPMENT
5. CALCIUM IN YOUR DIET
6. MASTER GARDENERS BLOOM
7. THE POSITIVE SIDE OF LIVESTOCK GRAZING
8. HIGH-STAKES TESTING IS NOT THE ANSWER
9. AWARDS AND EVENTS

1 RICE GENOME SEQUENCING

Arizona researchers have completed a high quality blueprint or draft sequence of part of the rice genome, specifically, the short arm of chromosome 3. Scientists here are part of an international consortium from 10 nations collaborating to decode the rice genome. The United States was assigned to work on chromosomes 3, 10, and half of chromosome 11.

The worldwide project is furthering work to improve a crop eaten by more than half the world's population. The entire genetic draft has been released for unrestricted public access on GenBank, a National Institutes of Health database allowing research to proceed simultaneously worldwide.

By decoding the complete rice genome -- a job the scientists hope to finish in the next two or three years -- they will understand disease and drought tolerance, and other mechanisms that will help in breeding improved rice varieties.

Rod Wing, Plant Sciences Department

To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/media/archives/5.8.html

Even when market prices are low, dry beans remain a good rotation crop in Cochise County. Large profits are impossible, but dry beans add fertilizer and good tilth characteristics that benefit subsequent crops.

CALS dry bean nursery trials contained 38 varieties of 9 different bean classes. The study helped bean growers in Arizona's high desert areas as well as supplying valuable information to the bean industry in the United States and Canada. The Graham County trials were grown in conjunction with a national cooperative that has test sites in 24 different locations.

"Buster" yielded 400 pounds per acre more than the next highest pinto bean variety and looks like a strong producing variety for the high Southeastern Arizona desert.

Several Great Northern varieties, two black varieties and one red variety yielded well and were much less affected by rainy weather than the pinto beans studied. If the market is reasonable, they could be economically produced in the area.

Lee J. Clark and E.W. Carpenter, Safford Agricultural Center

To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1254

When javelina browse in your backyard, they cause havoc to your landscaping. These eat-almost-anything animals have poor eyesight and a keen sense of smell. When drought or other circumstances cause food shortages in their natural habitat, they'll happily wander into your well-watered yard.

They dig up and eat the roots of many plants and they'll even nibble on or dig up plants they don't actually eat. The only certain method to prevent plant injury is putting up a barrier, such as a strong fence.

However, some plants are less likely to be eaten by javelina. A list of 53 plants includes everything from alyssum to zinnia, and junipers to fir and spruce trees. For the complete list, look at "Javelina Resistant Plants."

Jeff Schalau, Yavapai County Cooperative Extension

To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1238.pdf

The first squares or floral buds are a critical stage in the early development of a cotton crop because they could become the plants' first bolls. The first fruiting branches usually develop on the fifth, sixth, or seventh node above the cotyledons.

When they do, growers can predict that the first squares will occur slightly before or after 700 heat unit accumulations after planting (HUAP). The first blooms should appear around 1200 HUAP.

Arizona farmers can follow the early development of their cotton crop through HUAP information provided by AZMET. Local county Cooperative Extension offices make HUAP information available through weekly cotton advisories.

Once they identify the first squares, growers need to follow their retention by the cotton plants. Growers need to recognize early square loss and relate it to some cause: insects, weather, water, disease, or plant nutrition. Prompt crop management may be necessary.

Jeffrey C. Silvertooth, cotton agronomist

To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1205.pdf

You need adequate calcium for healthy bones, but your body cannot make it. So, you must get it from foods you eat, beverages you drink, and supplements.

Read the Nutrition Facts on food labels. A good source of calcium should contribute at least 100 milligrams of calcium in a standard serving. The nutrition label states daily values of calcium as a percentage. To calculate milligrams, drop the percent sign and add a zero. For example, 40% equals 400 milligrams. This calculation only works for calcium.

You can get the calcium you need by eating a variety of foods from each of the food groups in the Food Guide Pyramid. Some examples of calcium-rich foods are reduced fat milk, calcium fortified orange juice, canned salmon, and lowfat yogurt.

You can also fortify your foods with calcium by adding nonfat powdered milk to meat loaf, sauces, soups, casseroles, blended beverages, breads, cookies, mashed potatoes, cooked cereal, and scrambled eggs. Use reduced fat cheeses as toppings and snacks.

Vanessa Stanford and Linda Houtkooper, Department of Nutritional Sciences

To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/health/az1128.pdf

Desert gardening has its own set of challenges. In 11 Arizona counties, trained volunteers teach environmentally responsible gardening in a dry climate.

In Maricopa county alone, about 400 well-organized and well-trained Master Gardeners donated 28,000 hours fielding telephone calls, working directly with students in area schools, and answering questions at Phoenix home garden shows. They often demonstrate selecting desert-friendly plants that need little water, show where to plant them, and how to keep them healthy.

Wherever they volunteer, Master Gardeners promote the concept of an "earth-friendly backyard." They teach about saving energy and water and using integrated pest management techniques to control plant problems.

Maricopa County is largely urban, low rainfall desert. Coconino, Gila and Yavapai County Master Gardeners work together to solve the very different problems faced by gardeners in higher elevations.

One of their greatest challenges is teaching people to deal with a climate that includes cool nights during the growing season, combined with too much sunlight. Elk and deer are another pressure; they like nibbling on backyard gardens.

Whatever the challenge, Master Gardeners are invaluable, helping people to be responsible, environmentally concerned gardeners.

Lucy Bradley and Tom DeGomez, Cooperative Extension agents.
To order the "Master Gardeners Manual": http://cals.arizona.edu/gardening/ordermanual.html

To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/gardening/mglinks.html

When grazing lands are well managed, grazing can have positive environmental results such as reducing soil erosion, sequestering atmospheric carbon, and maintaining biodiversity.

The key to keeping grazing lands productive and environmentally friendly is managing vegetative cover. Ranchers must take care of their land so the plants provide feed for livestock, as well as hold the soil in place, filter water, and recycle nutrients.

These positive effects require developing a series of indicators that provide the information land managers need to make decisions that will sustain diverse ecosystems on the vast tracts of land used for grazing. More than 860 million acres of land, stretching from coast to coast and even into Hawaii, are used for grazing.

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), a non-profit consortium of food and agricultural scientists, recently released an issue paper: Environmental Impacts of Livestock on U.S. Grazing Lands.

CAST concluded that the potential impacts of livestock and wildlife grazing on the environment protection policies. It's a complex situation that involves soil and water quality, riparian and wetland communities, invasive plant species, public lands, biological diversity, grazing and fire, and high-density livestock areas.

To learn more: http://www.cast-science.org/pubs/grazinglands_ip.pdf

High-stakes testing of high school students is supposed to weed out failing students, and possibly prevent them from graduating until they can pass a standardized test. Unfortunately, career and technical education students have typically scored lower than academic students on AIMS and Stanford 9 tests.

After statistically analyzing test scores and sociological data from 10,000 Arizona high school seniors, researchers concluded that raw score comparisons are inappropriate. The groups are different.

Students with a predominant hands-on learning style are naturally attracted to career and technical education courses. These students do poorly on standardized tests because the tests reward students who are visual or auditory learners.

The researchers said, "We don't oppose standardized testing or even testing, but we do oppose high-stakes testing because no single event should decide a student's life. We force all students to take AIMS tests according to one learning style. That's our method for ensuring that 'no child will be left behind', but being left behind is almost exactly what will happen.

"A better assessment scenario would involve a continuing student portfolio that would document student achievements in addition to grades and test scores.

"There's a genius in every student. The problem is that the AIMS test can only find the genius in certain students."

Jim Knight, Jack Elliot, Department of Agricultural Education

To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/general/resrpt2002/13.pdf

Awards:

2002 Third Quarter CALS Outstanding Staff Award: Gregory DiCenzo, Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology

2002 CALS Faculty of the Year Award: Peter Ellsworth , Area Integrated Pest Management Specialist

Southwest Indian Agricultural Association Special Recognition Awards: Dave Langston, Greg Main, and Vernon Parson, Maricopa Agricultural Center

CALS Outstanding Staff in Research Award: Brenda Hunter, Plant Sciences Department

CALS Researcher of the Year Award: Jian-Kang Zhu, Plant Sciences Department

Events:

18th Annual Agribusiness Forum, March 7, Arizona Ballroom B, campus, register at ag.arizona.edu/arec/dept/events.html

Arizona Agriculture Day, March 12, Heritage Square, Phoenix

Arizona Forage Producers Association, March 13, Maricopa Agricultural Center, 520-318-7271.

Growing Awareness Southwest Youth Gardening Conference, March 21-22, Tucson, http://ag.arizona.edu/youthgardens/growingawareness.html

Local Approaches to Solving Water Resource Issues, May 1-2, Prescott Resort, Prescott, ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER

Southwest Indian Livestock and Family Days, May 6-8, Hon-Dah Resort, near Show Low, Gerald Moore, 928-871-7406

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