Several rodent species cause damage in vineyards and orchards. Current efforts to reduce chemicals used to control rodents are encouraging development of alternative practices, such as biological control. For several years growers in California have been installing artificial owl nest boxes to attract barn owls with the hope of reducing rodents, especially gophers, through predation. Effectiven...

Input costs for sugarcane production have escalated sharply over the past five years, especially fertiliser costs. It has become imperative for growers to manage fertiliser input costs by ensuring that they have an accurate nutrition management programme in place. The South African Sugar Association Experiment Station has, over many years, contributed hugely through their research and extension...

The increasing concern over the continued use of pesticides is pressurising apple growers to look for alternatives to chemical pest control. The re-discovery, and subsequent conservation, of the beneficial predatory mite, Anystis baccarum (Linnaeus) (Acari: Anystidae), in Bramley apple orchards in Northern Ireland offers a potential alternative control component for incorporation into integrate...

Oftentimes, those who are responsible for purchasing food for school foodservice programs have a variety of vendors from whom they choose to purchase. One buying option that is receiving increased support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the purchase of foods from local growers (those who grow food items on their farm and sell directly to consumers) and producers (those who pro...

The Dutch sugar industry and sugarbeet research initiated the project SUSY (Speeding Up Sugar Yield) as a reaction to the reform of the European Union sugar regime. The project was aimed at softening the reform’s impact on grower income by improving their knowledge on raising sugar yield and identifying possible cost savings. From each sugarbeet growing region in The Netherlands, 26 pairs of ‘t...

One rRNA operon of all mycobacteria studied so far is located downstream from a gene thought to code for the enzyme UDP-N-acetylglucosamine carboxyvinyl transferase (UNAcGCT), which is important to cell wall synthesis. This operon has been designated rrnAf for fast-growing mycobacteria and rrnAs for slow growers. We have investigated the upstream sequences and promoter activities of rrnA operon...