September 1999

UC SAREP funds 12 wide-ranging research projects

DAVIS - Twelve new projects—ranging from tracking dairy waste underground to expanding the number of school districts purchasing directly from farmers—have been granted a total of $243,911 by the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP).

The awards are for production and community development/public policy projects, one of SAREP’s competitive grants programs. "We are very pleased to be funding these projects emphasizing unique areas of production research, environmental monitoring and increased community food access," said SAREP Director Sean L. Swezey.

Projects are selected through a review process that includes faculty and other peers on SAREP’s public and technical advisory committees. The five production projects include:

• Park Village Farm Project (Jeff Kositsky/Cherise Melton, Rural California Housing Corp., Sacramento) Creates economic opportunities for residents of Park Village Apartments while improving the food security of low-income Cambodian families in Stockton, Calif. $20,000 for one year. Contact Melton, (916) 414-4400, cmelton@rchcorp.org
  
  
• Impact of Dairy Waste and Crop Nutrient Management on Shallow Groundwater Quality (Thomas Harter, UC Kearney Agricultural Center, Parlier) Aims to provide an improved understanding of the underground nitrate pathways from dairy operations and determine how these affect groundwater quality. (Related to Mathews project.) $29,500 over two years. Contact Harter, (559) 646-6569, thharter@ucdavis.edu
  
  
• Use of Dairy Lagoon Water in Production of Forage Crops (Marsha Campbell Mathews, UC Cooperative Extension, Stanislaus County) Evaluate system design, develop application methods and confirm the sustainability of yields when dairy lagoon water is used as the primary nutrient source for crops. Improvements in groundwater quality will be assessed with Harter project. $30,710 over two years. Contact Mathews, (209) 525-6654, mcmathews@ucdavis.edu
  

• Effects of Cover Crops on a Vineyard Ecosystem in the Northern San Joaquin Valley (Chuck Ingels, UC Cooperative Extension, Sacramento County) Will formally test cover crop mixes in vineyards to determine effects on production, fruit quality, vine moisture stress, nutrient status, weeds and economics. $12,060 over two years. Contact Ingels, (916) 875-6913, caingels@ucdavis.edu
  
  
• Quantifying Pest and Beneficial Insects Associated with Insectary Hedgerow Plantings (Rachael Long, UC Cooperative Extension, Yolo/Solano counties) Will determine the types of insects attracted to insectary plants planted for better biocontrol of pests in adjacent crops. $7,000 for one year. (Funds for this grant were made available through a grant from the International Tree Crops Institute USA, Inc.) Contact Long, (530) 666-8734, rflong@ucdavis.edu
• Conservation Tillage Systems for the San Joaquin Valley’s West Side (Jeff Mitchell, Kearney Agricultural Center, Parlier) An evaluation of the potential of conservation tillage production systems to reduce production costs, enhance soil and water conservation and maintain profitability in common rotations for the San Joaquin Valley’s West Side. $38,322 over three years. Contact Mitchell, (559) 646-6565, mitchell@uckac.edu

Seven community development and public policy projects include:

• Farm Community Responses to Water Marketing: Two Case Studies (Adrienne Alvord, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Davis) An examination of two California water marketing transactions, one which was viewed as beneficial for all parties, and one which was more controversial. Aims to determine what makes water marketing transactions successful or not for a community, as well as to assess impacts on economic and environmental sustainability. $10,000 for one year. Contact Alvord, (530) 756-8518, ext. 24, policy@caff.org
  
  
• Healthy Farms, Healthy Kids (Andrew Fisher, Community Food Security Coalition, Los Angeles) A policy and practices study of farm-to-school nutrition and education programs. Final report will be distributed with the goal of expanding the number of school districts that purchase fresh food directly from farmers. $16,918 for one year. Contact Fisher, (310) 822-5410, asfisher@aol.com
  
  
• Community Food System Assessment Guidebook (Andrew Fisher, Community Food Security Coalition, Los Angeles) Development of a guidebook to provide practical information for community-based organizations on how to conduct comprehensive food system assessments and follow-up activities. $15,301 for one year. Contact Fisher, (310) 822-5410, asfisher@aol.com
  

• The Willard Greening Project (Yolanda Huang, Willard Greening Project, Berkeley) Continues the Willard Greening Project in the Berkeley Unified School District, which encourages school children to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables through hands-on learning in school gardens. $28,400 for one year. Contact Huang, (510) 644-6330, yogreening@aol.com
  
  
• Mapping and Forecasting Expanding Vineyards: Integrating Agricultural, Economic, and Environmental Data at a Landscape Scale to Improve Land-Use Decision-Making (Adina Merenlender, UC Berkeley) Vineyard owners are under scrutiny from the environmental community and government agencies. To improve vineyard expansion and environmental protection decision-making, this project will integrate economic forecasting with remote sensing and landscape models. $18,200 for one year. Contact Merenlender, (707) 744-1270, adina@nature.berkeley.edu
  
  
• FARMS: Farming, Agriculture and Resource Management for Sustainability (Katy Pye, Mary Kimball, Yolo County Resource Conservation District) The FARMS program teaches rural, urban and suburban high school students about the connections between sustainable agriculture, science and natural resource conservation. The program will develop a FARMS Program Manual and accompanying recruiting and training video to help spread the program to other regions. $17,500 for one year. Contact Pye or Kimball, (530) 662-2037 ext. 3; Pye, topquail@yolorcd.ca.gov; Kimball, mckimball@ucdavis.edu

Almost $80,000 of these grant funds was made available as a result of Assembly Bill 1998 (Helen Thomson, D-Yolo County) which provided funding for production research projects that are related to biologically integrated farming systems. The bill was supported by a wide range of agricultural organizations and institutions including the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the California Farm Bureau, and the University of California.

SAREP, created by the University of California in response to 1986 state legislation, is the statewide special program within the UC charged with providing leadership and support for scientific research and education for California agriculture that is environmentally and economically sound and socially responsible. Funded projects fall into several categories—biologically integrated farming systems, alternatives to methyl bromide, and production and community development/public policy projects. SAREP funded several larger grants earlier in the year to support BIFS projects and research alternatives to methyl bromide.

For more information about current or past projects, contact SAREP at (530) 752-7556 or access the program’s searchable Web site at http://sarep.ucdavis.edu

Media Contacts:
Lyra Halprin, (530) 752-8664, lhalprin@ucdavis.edu

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