What is in this article?:
- Strawberry industry in urgent need of fumigant alternatives
- Work group members
- California’s strawberry industry urgently needs practical and cost-effective ways to grow strawberries without soil fumigants.
- California grows 88 percent of the nation’s strawberries. Fumigants are gaseous pesticides injected into the soil of agricultural fields prior to planting.
Work group members
The group includes the following individuals:
Chair:
- Brian R. Leahy, Director, Department of Pesticide Regulation
Members:
- Greg Browne, U.S. Department of Agriculture plant pathologist and chair of USDA’s methyl bromide area-wide program in Davis
- Bill Chism, U.S. Environmental Protection Ag ency biologist, Washington D.C.
- Steve Fennimore, University of California, Davis Extension weed specialist, Salinas
- Ann Katten, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Sacramento
- Karen Klonsky, University of California, Davis Extension economist
- Rod Koda, Strawberry grower, Watsonville
- Dan Legard, California Strawberry Commission research director, Watsonville
- Pam Marrone, Founder and chief executive officer, Marrone Bio Innovations, Davis
- Gary Obenauf, Agricultural consultant and chair of methyl bromide alternatives conference, Fresno
- Carol Shennan, University of California professor of agroecology and director at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, Santa Cruz
The work group will hold its first meeting this summer; the date has not yet been scheduled.
One of five departments and boards within the California Environmental Protection Agency, DPR regulates the registration, sale and use of pesticides and fosters reduced-risk pest management to protect people and the environment. More information about DPR is posted at www.cdpr.ca.gov.
For more information about the California Strawberry Commission, a state government agency that represents 500 growers, please visit: www.calstrawberry.com/.
