COLLEGE STATION — Plant nurseries and greenhouses — two of the state’s largest consumers of water — are stepping up and responding to the challenge of conserving water. A study at Texas A&M University may help the owners decide which of these systems is the best and most efficient for them. Subirrigation systems allow plant…
OVERTON — Eleven years ago, when Marty Baker moved to East Texas, plastic mulch was used only by the rare grower. Today, Baker – a horticulturist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service — knows of more than 3,000 acres of melons and vegetables grown using the black plastic film. For those 11 years, Baker has…
WESLACO — The predicted return of smoke and haze to the Rio Grande Valley skies this Memorial Day weekend from fires in Mexico and Central America will likely have little or no effect on area fiel d crops, according to experts at the Texas Agricultural Research and Extension Service in Weslaco. Lack of rain, they…
COLLEGE STATION Successful partnerships between research scientists and the produce industry for improved fruits and vegetables will be showcased during an open house of the Texas A&M University Vegetable Improvement Center April 29. The open house will be from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the center, 1500 Research Parkway, Suite 120, Centeq Research Plaza,…
COLLEGE STATION When graduate student Chris Freeman hit upon an idea for advanced studies in horticulture, he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. But he won’t have to. Freeman is researching how to grow vegetables organically in water. “I won’t need soil,” Freeman said of his hopeful venture. He envisions providing world-class chefs at…
COLLEGE STATION Years ago, the missions established by Spanish priests were restored around San Antonio and other places in South Texas. But avid heirloom gardeners said much restoration is left to do. Fully restored, the missions might have rows of corn, wheat, cotton, figs, grapes, beans and various fruit, all carefully irrigated by water-filled ditches,…
COLLEGE STATION — Years ago, the missions established by Spanish priests were restored around San Antonio and other places in South Texas. But avid heirloom gardeners said much restoration is left to do. Fully restored, the missions might have rows of corn, wheat, cotton, figs, grapes, beans and various fruit, all carefully irrigated by water-filled…
COLLEGE STATION — Most marketers would give up if told their product would only sell for 14 days out of the year — and a different two weeks each year at that. But that narrow market window hasn’t stifled Easter lily growers who pocket more than $38 million annually for their effort. The challenge is…
HOUSTON — Vegetable growers and researchers will join with medical scientists March 9 at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to focus on the future development of “designer foods for health.” The event will take place during the annual meeting of Texas A&M University’s Vegetable Improvement Center. The March 8-10 meeting will headquarter at the Sheraton Astrodome….
DENVER CITY — West Texas growers need to capitalize on their reputation for quality watermelons by borrowing a page from the playbook of cantaloupe producers in Pecos and growers of speciality crops in California and Florida, area melon producers were told during a day-long production short course here. A regional marketing program, developing product identity…
