Writer: Rod Santa Ana III, 956-968-5581, r-santaana@tamu.edu
Contacts: Dr Juan Anciso, 956-968-5581, j-anciso@tamu.edu
Dr. Jorge da Silva, 956-968-5585, j-dasilva@tamu.edu
Larry Cade, 956-383-2743
WESLACO– The recent cold snap that plunged the state into a deep freeze and the Lower Rio Grande Valley to near freezing temperatures appears to have had no ill effects on extreme South Texas agriculture.
The Valley’s cool-weather vegetable crops, including onions, cabbage, carrots and other greens not yet harvested, can survive temperatures in the mid- to upper 20s. But recently-planted spring crops were especially at risk.
“We came very close to freeze damage, especially to those spring crops that are susceptible to cold right now,” said Dr. Juan Anciso, a vegetable specialist at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Weslaco.
Anciso was referring to warm-season crops, including potatoes, watermelon and cantaloupe.
“Fortunately, temperatures only dropped to a low of about 35 degrees. Had it dropped to 32 degrees, these crops could have been hurt, especially potatoes, which were at a very sensitive stage,” he said.
The Valley’s sugarcane crop, 40 percent of which has not yet been harvested, also appears to have fared well.
Dr. Jorge da Silva, a sugarcane breeder at the Texas A&M center, said sugarcane’s susceptibility to cold weather damage varies depending on which variety a grower plants, but that there appears to be no damage.
“The severity and duration of cold required to damage sugarcane varies from variety to variety, but most of the varieties planted here in the Valley are fairly susceptible to cold weather,” he said. “The main risk is to the growing tips of sugarcane leaves. If they are killed by the cold, the plant starts sprouting new shoots, the inside of the plant begins to rot and the sugar content drops as the juice begins to ferment. But fortunately, it wasn’t cold enough to cause that type of damage.”
Da Silva said one of the goals of his sugarcane variety improvement program is to increase sugarcane’s cold tolerance to better withstand cold snaps. Another is to promote early maturity of cane so that more of the crop can be harvested before the cold season.
The Valley’s citrus may actually benefit from the cold snap since temperatures did not dip into the 20s, which can ruin fruit, limbs and even entire trees, depending on the duration of such temperatures.
Larry Cade, general manager of the Edinburg Citrus Association, said cold weather is preferable to hot weather, which can produce a green mold in citrus and ruin the fruit.
“It’s too late in the season for cold to color up the fruit,” Cade said, “but that already happened back in November and December. In fact, trees are ready to bloom any time now for next year’s crop, so we don’t need any more cold weather once that happens.”
Recently-planted sorghum, corn and cotton are resilient and, short of a freeze, hold up well in the cold.
“Those three crops can take a pretty good beating, but then make a strong recovery once the weather warms up,” said Dr. Bob Wiedenfeld, a soils scientist at the center.
The majority of the Valley’s 2003 cotton crop, expected to total about 225,000 acres, will be planted between now and mid-March. The crop is harvested in August.
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