March 30-31, 2017
Stakeholders with the University of California Riverside will bring back it’s Growers Forum in March 2017. The Growers Forum is an initiative that focuses on Riverside County’s potential to take advantage of their unique positioning of being the 13th in the state of California for agriculture production.
In 2016, growers, farmers, property owners, and other interested parties were able to learn more about the citrus psyllid – a major threat to the citrus growing industry and a native fruit resource to the Inland Empire. The risk of the tiny insect’s presence that is “sized smaller than a grain of rice” lies in the impact of the bacteria it carries that kills trees. This poses a serious challenge to the local food industry that yields local food access, reduced carbon emissions, maximum nutrition, and economic value in the region.
The threat of a damaging species brought attention to UC Riverside’s Center for Invasive Species Research. The research facility researches how to solve the industries problems of the Asia psyllid and others on it’s most “unwanted” list. Unwanted species include a Southern American Palm Weevil that has been eradicated, and other familiar insects such as the stink bug, bed bug, and brown spider species with the Asian psyllid.
Stay in touch with activities on our region’s vital agriculture industry with GrowRIVERSIDE at http://growriv.com/.