MAX FACTS GROWING TIPS, NEWS AND TRIVIA
Streamlining
the Organic Trade
What’s organic in the United States is
now organic in Switzerland. Under a new organic
equivalency arrangement between the US and Switzerland, organic
products certified in either country can now be sold as such in both places. “This is another chapter in the
success story of organic agriculture, providing new economic opportunities for American producers, choices
for consumers and jobs in rural communities across the country,” says Krysta Harden, the USDA’s deputy
secretary. The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has helped farmers and businesses create an industry
that today encompasses more than 19,000 organic businesses and accounts for $39 billion annually in
retail sales. Since the beginning of the Obama administration, the US government has signed five organic
equivalency arrangements. The other four are with Canada, the European Union, Japan and Korea.
(Source: usda.gov)
Safer Insect Repellent Discovered
The spotted wing Drosophila (D. suzukii), which feeds on ripening fruits, is a nuisance,
especially in Northern California and Europe. It lays its eggs inside ripe berries and, when
its larvae emerge, the fruit is destroyed, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth
of agricultural damage worldwide. Scientists at the University of California, Riverside have
now identified a safe repellent that protects fruits from D. suzukii. Butyl anthranilate (BA)
is a pleasant-smelling chemical compound produced naturally in
fruits in small amounts. In their lab experiments, the scientists
found that BA warded off D. suzukii from blueberries coated with
it. Researchers are hoping that their findings, when extended to
other agricultural pests, could provide a strategy for controlling the
flies and increasing the productivity of crops.
(Source: fruitgrowersnews.com)
Astronauts Eat Space Lettuce
Crew members aboard Expedition 44 on the International Space Station enjoyed their very first
space-grown crops last month. A batch of red romaine lettuce was harvested from the veggie
plant growth system on the ISS orbiting laboratory. The astronauts carefully cleaned the greens
with citric acid-based sanitizing wipes before dividing the spoils precisely in half. One half of
the space bounty was to be eaten fresh, while the other was to be packaged,
frozen and shipped back to Earth for scientific analysis. At harvest, the plants
spent 33 days growing inside Veg-01, a light bank that included red, green
and blue LEDs. “The farther and longer humans go away from Earth, the
greater the need to be able to grow plants for food, atmosphere
recycling and psychological benefits,” says NASA’s Gioia Massa.
“I think plant systems will become important components of
any long-duration exploration scenario.”
(Source: gizmodo.com)
30
Maximum Yield USA | September 2015