For four years now, researchers at Penn State University, led by plant pathologist Kari Peter, Ph.D., have been battling the sudden demise of young dwarf apple trees in high-density systems. The damage was first noticed when trees, planted in one block at the plant pathology research farm, began to die off rapidly. The decline and … Read more
Making the most of pollination is key. For example, more than $240 million of produce is predicted to come from apple orchards in New York State. Apples are a dependent crop that honey and wild bees are required to pollinate to bear fruit. “The major pollination dependent crops in those regions where growers are renting … Read more
Muranaka Farm was founded in 1947 by Minoru Muranaka and his wife, Matsue. They had a trucking fleet that hauled vegetable produce daily from the Japanese-American farms in the Culver City/West Los Angeles area to the downtown Los Angeles market. – Muranaka Farms Grows Kale Long before kale was trendy, Muranaka Farm, Inc. saw an opportunity. … Read more
Save the date: National Kale Day is scheduled for Oct. 4, 2017. Yes, there’s a national day to celebrate kale. In 2012, National Kale Day introduced an annual day to celebrate the nutritional benefits of kale. Many longstanding favorite vegetables already have similar days so with kale’s recent popularity, it made sense that this veggie, too, … Read more
IPM (Integrated Pest Management) has become one of the most discussed subjects in American agriculture in recent years as more growers adopt entry-level versions of the technique to reduce losses due to pests and to enhance profitability. Nevertheless, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture supported Northeastern IPM Center, “Only about 10 percent of [the … Read more