Nelsen will announce the details of the disaster legislation and what it means for the California citrus industry. This article does not have any comments associated with it. Citrus update on Wednesday Staff reports California Citrus Mutual President Joel Nelsen has scheduled a press conference for 1:30 p. Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel, 300 S Court, Visalia. He will also give the industry s response to the pending Presidential Disaster Declaration, as well as providing the latest...

That was the motto adopted by California avocado growers in the late 1990s, when that industry faced a flood of avocado imports from Mexico, Chile and other Latin American countries, said Mark Affleck, an administrator with the Hass Avocado Board, the federal promotion and research agency created in 2000. That may sound unappetizing as a juice, but it might be just the concoction for a new program that would force Brazilian processors to contribute to marketing and research efforts for...

One of his early difficulties was getting Kenyans to realize that he wasn't there with a food giveaway program, but to teach them the power of self-sufficiency. In just two growing seasons, the farmers in Youn's pilot project more than quadrupled their harvests and increased their incomes from about $150 a year to $450. To understand the culture, he worked beside farmers in their fields and slept in their mud huts on dirt floors, surrounded by children, chickens and broken pottery. He...

By Francisco Vara-Orta, Times Staff Writer April 10, 2007 Overkill click to enlarge The growing battle over genetically engineered plants is slowly taking root in California, most recently with a proposed Assembly bill that would allow farmers to sue bio-crop manufacturers for cross-contamination of organic and traditionally grown plants, which could hurt their marketability. By Francisco Vara-Orta, Times Staff Writer April 10, 2007 Overkill click to enlarge The growing battle over...

Nearly three months have passed since a powerful freeze devastated the California citrus industry. Beltran said the organization has received 65 eviction notices since January, and is currently assisting workers with thousands of dollars in utility bills. From a purely agricultural standpoint, the effects of the freeze can be seen purely by the number of packinghouses in operation. Even with their combined $1,200 monthly income from both field work and unemployment, the family does not...