From the Director

A Decade of Work, Communication

Welcome to the ninth volume of Sustainable Agriculture. Last September we celebrated the tenth anniversary of our program, which was established by the University of California in 1986 at the request of the California Legislature through Senator Nicholas Petris' Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Act. Petris authored the Act in response to farmer, consumer and researcher concerns that California farming practices be more ecologically sound, economically profitable and socially responsible. When UC SAREP was established, we immediately set up the public and technical advisory committees identified in our founding legislation. One of their first requests was to begin a newsletter (on recycled paper!). In the fall of 1988 the first issue of Sustainable Agriculture News, a quarterly about the activities and projects funded by SAREP, was published. In 1990 we added a sister publication, Components, to provide more technical reviews and information. Two years later we merged the publications into Sustainable Agriculture, which we have published faithfully four times a year. We have received much positive feedback on the newsletter from the California agriculture community, and from readers throughout the country and the world. Our newsletter has chronicled the work of SAREP-in the last ten years we've awarded more than $3.2 million to approximately 230 basic and applied research projects, community development and public policy projects, seminars and field demonstrations and graduate student awards. SAREP provided the seed money for the first long-term irrigated farmland study in a Mediterranean climate anywhere in the world. SAREP administers a second grant program (Biologically Integrated Farming Systems) to help farmers reduce their use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizer. This program is funded by the California Environmental Protection Agency's Department of Pesticide Regulation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Sustainable Agriculture was the first publication SAREP produced. Since that time we've published books and pamphlets, produced videos, created databases, and established our award-winning Web site which allows users to view information on SAREP-funded research and education projects, databases, and articles from the last eight years of quarterly newsletters. Because of the success of our other publications and of our Web site, we have decided to reduce the number of newsletters we produce. Our veteran quarterly becomes a three-times-a-year publication with this issue.
We hope you enjoy the news and information inside, which includes summaries of the newest 31 grants SAREP has funded. You will notice that the Technical Reviews section has been reformatted. Additionally, we are including in this issue a four-page UC Cooperative Extension South Central Region/SAREP insert (following page 6) highlighting some of the sustainable agriculture work taking place in the South Central Region. We appreciate the collaboration with colleagues throughout the state. We've enjoyed being a part of the greatest agricultural community in the world and look forward to the next ten years.-Bill Liebhardt, director, University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.