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Fall 2009
Extreme cold weather throughout
the South has affected the fruit, vegetable, and citrus
industries. Some vegetable crops in Florida were reported
as a total loss. Harvest in mid-January was at a standstill
with damage to ripening fruit and plants setting blooms
expected to continue impacting harvest over the next few
weeks. The full extent of losses are not known at the time
of this update. Other states in the region have been less
affected by the cold and actually look forward to hopefully
fewer pest problems this spring. However, a cold winter
does not guarantee a pest-free spring. Dr. Ernie Flint,
Area Agronomist, Mississippi State University, explains
it like this: “We ‘should’ see
reductions in the levels of some of our most troublesome pests like plant bugs,
stink bugs, aphids, and worm species that overwinter in the soil. If you try
to research this in the literature, you will find studies that hint at this
or that level of reduction; but it’s not that simple. It gets very complicated,
including many other factors such as soil texture, rainfall levels during the
period, tillage system, weather immediately prior to the freezing period, and
of course the length of the freezing period, as well as the frequency of freezing
and thawing.”
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Over the past couple of growing seasons, several
growers in the region have reduced or eliminated some fertilizer
applications (particularly P and K) due to high input costs.
The word in the region this year is that fertilizer usage should
be back to normal; however, it is important to be aware that
some damage may have already been done. Growers that elected
to eliminate fertilizer inputs and didn’t see a drop off
in yield need to pay attention to potential nutrient mining that
may have taken place. Also, growers that reduced inputs below
recommended rates should be aware that the soil fertility build-up
program that their lab prescribes has been affected. The IPNI
publication Consequences
of Cutting back on Potassiumaddresses these and other
issues for southern cropping systems.
Finally, the 10th International Conference on Precision
Agriculture (ICPA) will be held at the Hyatt Regency Tech
Center in Denver, Colorado, USA from July 18th to July 21st,
2010. Precision agriculture is growing and so is the precision
agricultural community across the world. The 10th ICPAis
expected to be the largest ever, with more than 500 attendees
from all over the U.S and over 40 countries (see program details,
coming soon on www.icpaonline.org).
Keeping with the tradition of the ICPA conferences, there will
be a dedicated session called “A to Z Track” which
is meant especially for crop consultants, advisers, agronomists,
producers, extension agents, and other practitioners. The A
to Z track will have talks from experts and specialists in
their respective disciplines. These specialists will present
talks that will be applied in nature with relevant “take
home messages” for practitioners and others. More information
on registration and detailed program information for the A
to Z sessions will follow in future updates.
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