Hawaii Agriculture | Tag Archives: grape

FIELD CROP PRODUCTION – PACIFIC REGION

Posted on September 23, 2014 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes, Sugar Cane Leave a comment

SUGARCANE: The 2014 production of sugarcane in Hawaii is forecast at 1.43 million tons, up 2 percent from the previous year, but unchanged from the August forecast. Harvested acreage is estimated at 19.0 thousand acres, up 7 percent from last year. Yield is forecast at 75.0 tons per acre.

The 2014 U.S. production of sugarcane for sugar and seed in 2014 is forecast at 29.4 million tons, down 4 percent from last year. Producers intend to harvest 883 thousand acres for sugar and seed during the 2014 crop year, down 28.3 thousand acres from last year. Expected yield for sugar and seed is forecast at 33.3 tons per acre, down 0.5 tons from 2013.

COTTON: California Upland cotton production in California is forecast at 215 thousand bales, down 35 percent from the 2013 crop. Harvested acreage is estimated at 59.0 thousand acres, down 35 percent from a year ago. Yield is forecast at 1,749 pounds per acre, up 1 percent from last year.

California American Pima cotton production is forecast at 510 thousand bales, down 16 percent from the 2013 crop. Harvested acreage is forecast at 154 thousand acres, down 17 percent from last year. Yield is forecast at 1,590 pounds per acre.

U.S. upland cotton production is forecast at 16.0 million 480-pound bales, up 30 percent from 2013. Harvested area is expected to total 9.69 million acres, down 4 percent from last month but up 32 percent from 2013.

The U.S. American Pima cotton production, forecast at 578 thousand bales, is down 9 percent from last year. Expected harvested area, at 189.4 thousand acres, is down 5 percent from 2013.

RICE: California’s 2014 rice crop forecast, at 36.8 million cwt., is down 23 percent from the previous year. The yield forecast is 8,600 pounds per acre, up 2 percent from last month and up 1 percent from last year. Planted and harvested acreages are forecast at 433 thousand and 428 thousand acres, respectively. As of September 1, nearly all of the rice acres had headed.

The 2014 U.S. rice production is forecast at 218 million cwt, down 5 percent from August, but up 15 percent from last year. Area for harvest is expected to total 2.91 million acres, down 4 percent from August, but 18 percent higher than 2013. Based on conditions as of September 1, the average United States yield is forecast at a record high 7,501 pounds per acre, down 59 pounds from August and down 193 pounds from last year. Continue reading→

Scientists unwind the secrets of climbing plants’ tendrils

Posted on August 30, 2012 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes Leave a comment

In the search for precious sunlight, instead of growing sturdy trunks to reach towards the light, climbing plants such as honeysuckle and grapevines cling to their surroundings and then heave themselves upwards. Scientists have now cracked how some plants do this, and in the process they have created a new kind of spring.

Climbing plants have been puzzling biologists since the 19th century – including Charles Darwin. The technique the plants use to winch themselves upwards is well known, but the underlying mechanism has been a mystery until now.

The new research, published in the journal Science, investigates in unprecedented detail the supporting tendrils of the cucumber plant. When first formed, a tendril is almost straight, and while growing it slowly waves around in a poorly understood process called circumnutation. When it encounters a foothold, the end of the tendril wraps around it, securing a support.

The tendril then shortens by coiling up into a corkscrew-like helix, pulling up the rest of the plant. But rather than twisting only in one direction – impossible without twisting the plant at the other end – the two halves of the coiled section curl up in opposite directions, separated by an uncoiled stretch called a perversion, so there’s no net twist. How this coiling occurs wasn’t understood.

A group of scientists led by Sharon Gerbode and Josh Puzey, who carried out the work while at Harvard University, investigated the nature of recently discovered specialised cells that form a stiff ribbon of material inside each soft, fleshy tendril.

This ribbon controls a tendril’s shape, and the team suspected that to coil, cells on one side of the ribbon are stiffened and shortened more than those on the other side, causing a turn towards the stiffened side. Continue reading→

Hawaii growers urged to clean up exports-The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on August 28, 2009 by bigwave Posted in General Ag News and Notes Leave a comment

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai’i’s $125 million agricultural export industry could be threatened by hitchhiking insects and other pests found on fresh flower, foliage and fruit shipments arriving in California.

Budget cuts have left California with fewer inspectors and made that state more prone to slap sanctions on importers when pests are discovered. Hawai’i may also lose inspectors if the state lays off workers in November as planned to balance its budget.

Five key agricultural officials sent a warning letter this month to hundreds of Hawai’i growers and shippers who sell flowers, foliage, herbs, vegetables, potted nursery products and fruit, alerting them to the potential risk of not cleaning up their shipments.

"Anyone that currently ships to California can be the ‘last straw’ that triggers the decision by California to impose severe restrictions on the movement of all products from Hawai’i into the California market," the letter states.

Continue reading→