COLLEGE STATION – People in floriculture who need to know about water quality, conservation and management but can’t travel to a remote meeting now have a new option: the Internet.
The Ellison Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A&M University is offering a webinar, or series of meetings via the Internet, beginning Aug. 17 at 2 p.m., according to Dr. Charlie Hall, Ellison chairholder and Texas AgriLife Research horticulturist. Two additional webinars about water will be scheduled soon.
“Why water?” Hall asked. “Access to an adequate supply of high quality water is a growing concern for the nursery/floral industry due to drought, urbanization and competing demands which have decreased available irrigation water.”
He added that regulations on consumption and runoff have greatly impacted greenhouse and nursery management and profitability.
Dr. Paul Fisher, University of Florida Extension Service specialist, will open the first session with his talk “What’s living in your water? Water quality and treatment for pathogens and algae.”
Fisher is the lead collaborator for the Water Education Alliance for Horticulture. The goal of the alliance is to reduce runoff and water-related disease issues in the greenhouse and nursery industry by increasing grower knowledge of water technologies and water conservation practices.
To register, go to https://tamu.webex.com/tamu/onstage/g.php?p=1&t=m. Previous webinars by the floriculture program can be found at http://ellisonchair.tamu.edu/webinar.htm. -30-