EDIS Update – Page 23 – New and revised publications from the University of Florida Insitute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Vanilla Cultivation in Southern Florida

Vanilla extract is popular around the world as an ingredient in ice cream and various other desserts. The botanical source of vanilla extract is primarily the cured beans of Vanilla planifolia. The United States is the world’s largest importer of vanilla beans, but domestic production is minimal. However, southern Florida has a favorable growing environment for vanilla cultivation. This new 7-page publication of the UF/IFAS Horticultural Sciences Department includes information relevant to growers interested in establishing a vanillery. Written by Alan H. Chambers, Pamela Moon, Vovener de Verlands Edmond, and Elias Bassil.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1348

Postflight Data Processing Instructions on the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Agricultural Applications

Remote sensing applications for agriculture often require periodically collected high-resolution data, which are difficult to obtain by manned flights or satellite imagery. This 6-page document provides guidance on the use of post-processing software to visualize data collected by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for agricultural applications. It provides step-by-step instructions for using the data collected from a UAV flight to create several types of maps and indices. Written by Sri Charan Kakarla and Yiannis Ampatzidis, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, October 2019.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae533

Exemplary Youth Leadership Series: Model the Way

This publication series is designed to outline strategies and experiences to expose youth to and engage them with leadership concepts. In this series, activities have been developed to introduce youth to Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of exemplary leaders. This new 2-page article allows students to engage with the first practice: modeling the way. Leaders must identify and exemplify values in order to be effective. The two outlined activities help students illustrate the idea of identifying values and modeling expectations. Written by Megan Stein and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/wc346

Overview of Urban Aquaculture

This 6-page fact sheet written by Emily H. Roan, Laura Tiu, Roy P.E. Yanong, Matthew A. DiMaggio, and Joshua T. Patterson and published by the UF/IFAS Program in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, School of Forest Resources and Conservation provides introductory information for people interested in engaging in commercial or hobby-scale aquaculture in urban or suburban areas. It introduces three common types of urban aquaculture systems, describes the resources and challenges unique to urban aquaculture, and includes a handy “getting started” section.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa217

Tropical and Subtropical Fruit Propagation

Propagation is an important technique used by tropical and subtropical fruit growers worldwide, allowing plants to be grown cheaply and efficiently. While sexual propagation (by seed) results in plants that are not genetically the same as the mother plant, asexual propagation (cuttings, division, air-layers, and grafting) creates offspring that are clones of the mother plant. Cloning fruit trees is important because it allows different cultivars to be preserved over time. This new 7-page publication of the UF/IFAS Horticultural Sciences Department explains both sexual and asexual propagation techniques, why they are used, and what type of propagation is best for which species of tropical fruit. Written by Jeff Wasielewski and Carlos Balerdi.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1349

Valuing Florida Water Resources: Households’ Willingness to Pay for Water

This 8-page fact sheet written by Tatiana Borisova, Fei He, Xiang Bi, Kelly Grogan, Tara Wade, and Syed Shah and published by the UF/IFAS Food and Resource Economics Department reviews various methods of examining the value of water availability for household needs. It may be helpful to water resource managers planning investments in water infrastructure to prepare for droughts as well as for analyzing spending on protecting source water availability, for example, by protection of aquifers or increasing the recharge of aquifers, the primary water source in Florida.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe1068

Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum–Lesson 9: How Do Whales Stay Warm?

This 9-page document is the ninth lesson in the Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum. It will help students investigate the roles that blubber, body shape, and body size play in preventing heat loss in marine mammals. Written by Maia Patterson McGuire and Ruth Francis-Floyd, and published by the UF/IFAS Veterinary Medicine–Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, June 2019.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm234

Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum–Lesson 16: North Atlantic Right Whales and Ship Strikes

This 7-page document is the sixteenth lesson in the Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum. It will help students learn why ship strikes are a threat to North Atlantic right whale survival, and what conservation measures are in place to reduce this threat. Written by Maia Patterson McGuire, Jessica Hardy, Brenda Cannaliato, and Ruth Francis-Floyd, and published by the UF/IFAS Veterinary Medicine–Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, June 2019.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm241

Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum–Lesson 4: How Big Are Cetaceans?

This 12-page document is the fourth lesson in the Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum. It will help students gain an understanding of the size of different cetaceans through engaging activities. Written by Maia Patterson McGuire and Ruth Francis-Floyd, and published by the UF/IFAS Veterinary Medicine–Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, June 2019.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm229

Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum–Lesson 12: Identifying Individual North Atlantic Right Whales

This 4-page document is the twelfth lesson in the Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum. It will help students learn about the New England Aquarium’s right whale database and match photographs of individual right whales. Written by Maia Patterson McGuire, Ruth Francis-Floyd, and Brenda Cannaliato, and published by the UF/IFAS Veterinary Medicine–Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, June 2019.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm237

Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum–Lesson 8: Food Chains

This 6-page document is the eighth lesson in the Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum. It will help students identify components of baleen and toothed whale food chains and trace energy flow. Written by Maia Patterson McGuire, Brenda Cannaliato, and Ruth Francis-Floyd, and published by the UF/IFAS Veterinary Medicine–Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, June 2019.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm233

Implementation of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation in Florida Tomato Production

Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) is a relatively new technique that appears to be a promising tool for soilborne pest management and crop production improvement. This new 5-page publication of the UF/IFAS Horticultural Sciences Department is intended to introduce ASD for Florida vegetable growers. Written by Bodh R. Paudel, Francesco Di Gioia, Qiang Zhu, Xin Zhao, Monica Ozores-Hampton, Marilyn E. Swisher, Kaylene Sattanno, Jason C. Hong, and Erin N. Rosskopf.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1345

Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum–Lesson 3: Researching Individual Whale and Dolphin Species

This 55-page document is the third lesson in the Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum. It will help students learn about individual cetacean species through a game. Written by Maia Patterson McGuire and Ruth Francis-Floyd, and published by the UF/IFAS Veterinary Medicine–Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, June 2019.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm228

Integrated Management of Bacterial Spot on Tomato in Florida

Bacterial spot is one of the most detrimental diseases of tomato and is especially severe in the southeast United States when weather conditions (high temperature, high humidity, and rain) become conducive for disease development. This new 8-page publication of the UF/IFAS Plant Pathology Department presents updated information about the causal pathogen and management of bacterial spot on tomato in Florida. Written by Amanda Strayer-Scherer, Ying-Yu Liao, Peter Abrahamian, Sujan Timilsina, Mathews Paret, Tim Momol, Jeff Jones, and Gary Vallad.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp353

Exemplary Youth Leadership Series: Activities to Engage Youth With Practices of Exemplary Leaders

This publication series is designed to outline strategies and experiences to expose youth to and engage them with leadership concepts. In this series, activities have been developed to introduce youth to Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of exemplary leaders. Each article in the series directly relates to one of the practices and the topics of values, vision, teamwork, trust, and gratitude. This new 3-page article, the first in the series, introduces each practice and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model. Written by Megan Stein and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/wc344

Target Spot of Tomato in Florida

Fresh-market tomatoes bring in $400-$500 million annually as the third most valuable crop in the state. Defoliation and fruit damage from target spot, caused by Corynespora cassiicola, can have serious economic implications for growers. This new 5-page publication of the UF/IFAS Plant Pathology Department, written by Keevan MacKenzie, Jessica Chitwood, Gary Vallad, and Sam Hutton, reviews symptoms and epidemiology of the disease and provides current management recommendations.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp351

Guidelines for Pomegranate Nutrient Management in Florida

Many Florida growers are interested in the potential of pomegranate as an alternative fruit crop. The first flush of flowers produces the best quality fruit, and climatic conditions have a great impact on the timing of flowering. Proper fertilization is critical to promote healthy canopy development, minimize nutrient disorders, and maximize fruit yield and quality. This new 5-page article, written by Shinsuke Agehara, Weining Wang, and Ali Sarkhosh and published by the UF/IFAS Horticultural Sciences Department, provides guidelines for pomegranate nutrient management in Florida.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1347

Variedades de Durazno y Nectarina en la Florida

La Universidad de la Florida ha desarrollado cultivares de nectarina y durazno de alta calidad, bajo requerimiento de horas frio, y de maduracion temprana que pueden cultivarse desde el Panhandle de la Florida (noroeste del estado) tan al sur como Immokalee. Cultivares de bajas horas frio pueden crecer y producir fruta bajo las condiciones de la Florida que son mucho mas calidas en el invierno que en estados mas al norte. This 18-page fact sheet, translated by Tatiana Sanchez and published by the UF/IFAS Horticultural Sciences Department, is the Spanish-language version of CIR1159, Florida Peach and Nectarine Varieties, written by Ali Sarkhosh, Mercy Olmstead, Jose Chaparro, Pete Andersen, and Jeff Williamson.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1346

Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum–Lesson 2: Cetaceans–What Makes a Whale a Whale?

This 7-page document is the second lesson in the Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum. It will help students learn about general whale and dolphin biology. Written by Ruth Francis-Floyd and Maia Patterson McGuire, and published by the UF/IFAS Veterinary Medicine–Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, June 2019.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm227

Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum–Lesson 1: Starting to Learn about Whales

This 14-page document is the first lesson in the Cetaceans 4th Grade Curriculum. It will help students start to learn about whales and practice reading comprehension and writing skills. Written by Maia Patterson McGuire and Ruth Francis-Floyd, and published by the UF/IFAS Veterinary Medicine–Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, June 2019.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm226