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Center hosts 26 Hours of Science & Technology in Agriculture high school students

Center hosts high school students

Mar 21, 2024


26 Hours of Science & Technology in Agriculture high school student tour

The Cal Poly Latinos in Agriculture Club, in collaboration with the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences (CAFES), hosted over 100 California high school students for this year's 26 Hours of Science & Technology in Agriculture event, which provides students with a 26-hour tour of Cal Poly's diverse agricultural offerings, centers, and departments. Center plant pathologist Shashika Hewavitharana and several students provided instructional demonstrations and hands-on activities focusing on basic strawberry plant diseases and diagnostic tests. 

 

Continue reading Center hosts high school students...
Angular Leaf Spot (ALS) showing up

Angular Leaf Spot (ALS) showing up

Mar 21, 2024



We are seeing quite a bit of angular leaf spot (ALS) in our fields and getting some calls about it in other areas of the state. Angular leaf spot is a bacterial disease caused by Xanthomonas fragariae....
*Read our latest blog post to learn about ALS symptoms and management.
https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2024/03/21/angular-leaf-spot-showing-up/
SUBSCRIBE to the Cal Poly Strawberry Center research blog @ https://strawberrycenterblog.com/subscribe/
 

Research Blog Post: Lygus detection numbers are up early this year.

Research Blog Post: Lygus detection numbers are up early this year

Mar 18, 2024


Lygus detections in first-year strawberry fields are up this year across all three districts. This is cause for concern being that the surrounding hills haven’t even bloomed in some areas yet.
So .... What could be driving Lygus so much earlier than expected?

Learn more in our latest research blog post:
BEWARE THE STORM THAT DELAYS THE LYGUS SWARM?
by Strawberry Center Entomology Program Leader Mohammad Amir Aghaee

https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2024/03/18/beware-the-storm-that-delays-the-lygus-swarm/

Meet Cornell's newest plant pathologist: Center alum Scott Cosseboom

Meet Cornell's newest plant pathologist: Center alum Scott Cosseboom

Mar 8, 2024


We knew him when....

Congratulations to Strawberry Center alum Scott Cosseboom on his new position as Cornell Hudson Valley Research Laboratory (CHVRL)’s plant pathologist, where he will focus on sustainable disease management in specialty crops. Scott completed his MS degree in Plant Sciences in 2018 working at the Strawberry Center on fungicide resistance in Botrytis cinerea.

It makes us so proud to see our graduates progress in their careers!

https://cals.cornell.edu/news/2024/02/plant-pathologist-plans-creative-solutions-hudson-valley-research-lab

MS Student Cooper Calvin receives APS travel award

MS Student Cooper Calvin receives APS travel award

Mar 6, 2024


Congratulations to Cooper Calvin (M.S. Candidate, Agriculture, Environmental Horticultural Sciences, Cal Poly) who received a graduate student travel award for the upcoming joint meeting of the APS Pacific Division and the 69th Conference on Soilborne Plant Pathogens. Cooper is the first Cal Poly student to receive this award. He will be participating in the graduate student competition presenting his latest findings for his research project "Systems Approach to Macrophomina Root Rot Management of California Strawberry". The joint meeting will be held on March 26-28 in Corvallis, Oregon.

Congratulations Cooper!

Results of Center fungicide trials published in PDMR

Results of Center fungicide trials published in PDMR

Mar 4, 2024


JUST PUBLISHED!

The results of two fungicide trials conducted in 2022 and published in Plant Disease Management Reports in 2023 are presented in our latest research blog post. Read full article @ https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2024/03/04/just-published-fungicide-performance-against-botrytis-fruit-rot/

Subscribe to the Strawberry Center Research Blog @ https://strawberrycenterblog.com/subscribe/

Center hosts congressional staffers

Feb 29, 2024


We recently hosted two members of U.S. Congressperson (California's 24th District) Salud Carbajal's team for a tour of our Center. Staffers Greg Haas (Senior District Representative) and Ruth Vasquez (Agricultural Staffer) toured our administrative offices, entomology lab, and research field.

Photo (L to R): John Lin (Center Automation Program Leader), Greg Haas, Ruth Vazquez and Gerald Holmes (Center Director).

Happy National Strawberry Day and Center's first harvest

Happy National Strawberry Day and Center's first harvest

Feb 27, 2024


HAPPY NATIONAL STRAWBERRY DAY!

Join us and the nation today in celebrating the beloved heart-shaped, juicy strawberry. This is an additionally exciting occasion for us here at the Strawberry Center as our team harvested late last week our debut set of berry-filled clam shells for the 2023/24 season. Berries will be sale soon locally at Cal Poly Meats, Vista Grande Market (Cal Poly campus) and Vons.

https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-strawberry-day-february-27

Botrytis fruit rot season is upon us

Botrytis fruit rot season is upon us :-(

Feb 8, 2024


In this blog article, Center Director Gerald Holmes discusses optimal conditions for establishment of our most economically important fruit disease.

Temperatures between 60F and 75F and wetness lasting over 16 hours are ideal for infection and disease development. These conditions are most likely to occur during the winter and early Spring, when fruit supply is low and prices are high.

[Read More…] https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2024/02/08/its-botrytis-fruit-rot-season/

Subscribe to the Cal Poly Strawberry Center Research Blog @ https://strawberrycenterblog.com/subscribe/

New Center program leader Mohammad A. Aghaee introduces himself in blog article

New Center program leader Mohammad A. Aghaee introduces himself

Feb 6, 2024


Explore our most recent blog article! Our new Cal Poly Strawberry Center Entomology Program Leader MOHAMMAD AMIR AGHAEE tells us a bit about himself.

The Bug Man Cometh

Two months have flown by faster than I realized. Leaving the South and coming back to the West Coast after almost a decade is a bit jarring. Gone are the slow dusty beats of the corn, cotton, and soy tractors traversing the field filled with Ford F-250s and secondhand RAM 2500s. Now I stand on sandy soils producing some of the juiciest fruit lined with the workers’ Toyotas and Hondas. In some ways the processes are the same and in other ways they are different.

Read full post @ https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2024/02/06/the-bug-man-cometh/

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