J.C. Broome, W.H. Settle, R.L. Bugg, M. Gibbs, C.P. Ohmart
Poster presentation at SETAC 18^th Annual Meeting, Bridging the Global Environment: Technology, Communication, and Education, November 16-20, 1997, San Francisco, Calif. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Pensacola, Florida 1997.

In the 1990s, several community-based, whole farming system projects for pollution prevention have been developed in California. In 1993, the Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems (BIOS) project was initiated to support almond production in Merced County. This project was founded and is administered by a non-profit corporation, Community Alliance with Family Farmers together with various public and private entities. The BIOS projects feature management teams that include farmers, researchers, private pest control advisors, UC farm advisors, and representatives of the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service. These teams craft and implement technical support packages for growers. BIOS growers in Merced and Stanislaus County eliminated dormant (winter) sprays of diazinon during the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons, respectively. Mean application rates of synthetic nitrogen fell by 41 percent, from 187.21 kg/ha pre-BIOS to 110.98 kg/ha in 1996. The BIOS program has expanded to seven counties in the Central Valley. Other projects have developed that are similar to BIOS and supported by the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Crops addressed include wine grapes, cotton, prunes, peaches, and vegetables. One such project is the Biologically Integrated Farming Systems project of the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission (LWWC). This project has emphasized community-building through on-farm meetings, intensive monitoring of pests, and the use of cover cropping to improve access to vineyards, maintain soil quality, and reduce pests. In 1997, 56 vineyard demonstration plots were established totaling 810 hectares. Cover crops are used in 84 percent of the vineyards and leaf removal for non-chemical pest management in 55 percent of the vineyards. No insecticides or miticides were used in 50% of the vineyards. After the first year of the program, use of the reduced-risk contact herbicide glyphosate increased from 0.26 kilograms per enrolled hectare to 0.75 kilograms per enrolled hectare and use of simazine, a known groundwater contaminant, appears to be decreasing, from 0.59 kilograms per enrolled hectare to 0.28 kilograms per enrolled hectare.

For more information: Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616. sarep@ucdavis.edu