Similar to Sub-Saharan Africa, the Central Valley’s thriving market has had to deal with drought, pesticide use, polluted air, water scarcity, urbanization and the introduction of technology. Read and watch what the class learned.

A Glance into the Central Valley
Q&A and photo slideshow by Paige Ricks

Technology and its impact on technology
video by Jerome Hubbard

Interview with Eric Holt-Gimenez
video by Bryan Gibel and Elizabeth-Laure Njipwo

Central Valley agriculture and technology
video by Laurel Moorhead and Lily Mihalik

Final curtain for the pink boll worm
story by Noemie Bisserbe

Is goodwill enough?
story by Fabiane Stefano

A holistic approach to reduce pesticide risk
Q&A by Bernice Agyekwena and Neelima Mahajan

story by Neelima Mahajan and Bernice Agyekwena

Ongoing research on biological control of aflatoxins in pistachios in California has proven successful with a reduction of 50 percent in aflatoxin infection rates in the second year of research. In the first year, infection was reduced by 10 percent and advance estimates suggest a reduction of 50 percent or more in the third year.

Biological control of aflatoxin in cotton seeds and peanuts is already going on in Arizona and other parts of the United States. This was revealed by Professor Themis Michailides, a Plant Pathologist at the University of California’s Kearney Agricultural Research Center, Fresno. He said biological control of aflatoxins in maize in Nigeria has been successful and the product was registered early this year and is currently in use. “We are hoping the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will grant registration for biological control of aflatoxins in pistachios to take off in the fields next year,” he said.

The rationale for biological control involves the use of extoxigenic aspergillus flavus and aspergillus parasiticus strains of fungi that do not produce aflatoxins to control the toxigenic strains that produce aflatoxins.

Aflatoxins are forms of mycotoxins which are poisons produced by toxigenic fungi when they infect and feed on certain crops including pistachios, peanuts, maize, figs and cotton.
They are regarded as number one carcinogens and when ingested in small quantities accumulate in the body because they cannot be metabolized, causing liver cancer and yellowing of the eyeballs which eventually leads to death. However, consuming large quantities at one go leads to instant death.

Q&A by Bernice Agyekwena and Neelima Mahajan

Q. Dealing with pests is one part of the problem and dealing with pesticides is another. When we talk of reducing pesticide risk, is there a safer and more sustainable approach to follow?

A. For reducing pesticide risk you need a systems approach that takes into account the whole ecological system. You use pesticides as little as possible and when you have to, you try and use reduced risk pesticides. You also bring in cultural changes – so you can control the cultivar, control cultural practices, understand the pest-host relationship and use a calculator to see when you need to spray pesticides. You might be able to reduce pesticide risk just by understanding your pests and understanding under what conditions they can lead up to an economic threat. You use the pesticide only when there is an economic threat.

Besides, you can have a variety or cultivar that helps manage pests and diseases. So if you have a root stalk that’s resistant to a root-borne disease or to a pest, then you don’t have to treat for that disease or that pest. You might also be able to find natural enemies – a predator or a parasite – that will be able to control disease. You can do DNA work where you can determine whether a variety will cause you an economic problem. If you use a system, you can find the best method in the environment that you are in for the specific pest that you have. The US is trying to use reduced risk pesticides that are not as harmful to the environment, animals and people.

photo: Laura Van Der Staay is the Program and Facility Coordinator, IR-4 Field Research Center Director at the Kearney Research Center, University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

story by Noemie Bisserbe

These boll worms — a major pest in cotton farming — are, however, of an unusual kind. They come from a small rearing facility in Phoenix, Arizona, where they have been irradiated to become sterile. As they are released in the environment, they will mate with the native population and produce eggs. But, the eggs will not hatch.

The Pink Boll worm Program — an aggressive trapping program to overwhelm native insect populations — is one of the most successful and longest running area wide integrated pest control programs in the world. For the past three decades, the program has allowed local cotton growers to manage the pest without the use of pesticides. This year, farmers believe that the pink boll worms have finally been completely eradicated from the San Joaquin Valley. “So far this season, no native moths have been identified in the valley’s cotton fields,” says Robert Hutmacher, director of the University of California’s West Side Research and Extension Center, in Shafter. “The program has been a great success and this is why cotton farmers in California have such high yields,” he adds.
Cotton production in California is of 2 to 2.5 million bales per year from approximately 700,000 to 800,000 acres of land. That’s five to eight percent of total US cotton plantings, but about 10 to 14 percent of the country’s total yearly production.

The San Joaquin Valley is also particularly well suited for cottons that are difficult to grow, explains Hutmacher. The region is well known for its Upland Acala cotton variety, that has very strong, long fibers, though California is also the country’s largest Pima cotton growing area.

Monsanto’s genetically engineered cotton, Bollgard, that is genetically engineered to resist pink bollworm and has been widely adopted in big cotton producing countries like South Africa, India and China, is not planted in California. “There is no use for it in the State,” says Hutmacher. California’s pink bollworm program could provide a viable template for developing countries where the high input costs associated to genetically modified crops, are hurting small farmers.

photo: Robert Hutmacher, director of the University of California’s West Side Research and Extension Center

Photo Coutresy of the Center for Investigative Reporting

Mark Schapiro is a Senior Correspondent for the Center for Investigative Reporting with a focus on environmental and international affairs.  He has authored several articles about the international carbon market, and a book titled Exposed (Chelsea Green) that was published in 2007.  He has also published various stories with Frontline/World’s Carbon Watch series, which was recently nominated for a Webby award.  His recent article in Harper’s magazine titled “Conning the Climate” takes the reader “inside the carbon-trading shell game.”Mark Schapiro has also written for The Nation, Mother Jones and The Atlantic Monthly.  He stopped by the Africa Reporting Project to talk carbon trading, what it is, and why we should all be paying attention to it right now.

Photo courtesy of American University

Deborah Brautigam, professor in the International Development Program at American University, has been studying relations between China and Africa for decades.  Her research also focuses on foreign aid, industrialization, state-building and development.  She has served as a consultant for the United Nations, the World Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, and various Sub-Saharan African countries. She has authored dozens of articles on the issues of foreign aid and governance, development and economic policy, as well as a recent book on China-African relations, The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa.  Deborah stopped by the Africa Reporting Project where we talked China, Africa and textiles.

He has experience living and working in Eastern Africa and Europe. His current work and research include policy, institutional and implementation issues related to poverty reduction, rural development, civil society, democracy, governance, environmental factors, drought management, conflict mitigation and international trade.

For this week’s One Question, we ask Halderman to explain his views about what it would take to have pastoralists’ issues taken more seriously in African countries where they are prevalent.

Patrick Vinck, an agricultural engineer who specializes in rural development, holds a Ph.D. in international development. He has worked and conducted research in Iraq, Rwanda, Northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and other areas affected by armed conflict. He directs the The Initiative for Vulnerable Populations at the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley.

He visited the Africa Reporting Project on Thursday, where he talked about food security after conflict and defined the elements of food security. For our One Question series, we asked Vinck to break down his thoughts on food security in Africa.