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Agri-Bytes
April 2009
In This Edition:
- Serious Georgia wine industry seeks endowed viticulture professorship
- Many consumers ignore food recalls, study finds
- Spud breeders tap wild stock for nematode resistance
Serious Georgia wine industry seeks endowed viticulture professorship
Georgie's wine industry has tripled in size during the past five years. In 2007, Georgia's winegrape crop was worth $10 million alone, according to the University of Georgia. Its wineries generated $41 million that year.
And Georgia is serious about increasing its production and quality—so much, so, that it wants to create an endowed professorship at the University of Georgia to help the industry.
“It is our job, as a land-grant university, to provide cutting edge research, sound economic development advice, outreach training and classroom education to support the emerging industries in Georgia,” university dean of agriculture J. Scott Angle said in a news release.
To help raise $250,000 for the endowment, the university will hold an "Alfresco Evening on the River," June 11, in Atlanta. The evening will feature food from local chefs, wine and entertainment.
“A first-class academic program in viticulture and enology with extensive internship opportunities will help today’s CAES students become the leaders of the Georgia wine industry tomorrow,” Martha Ezzard, a member of the Extension advisory board and co-chair of the event, said in the release. She and her husband, John, have hosted interns at their Tiger Mountain Vineyards in Tiger, Ga., for the past two summers.
Tickets are $150 each, $300 per couple or $1,350 for a group of 10.
For more information, call (706) 542-3390 or visit http://www.caes.uga.edu/alumni.
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Many consumers ignore food recalls, study finds
Nearly half of Americans say that recent food recalls have not affected their lives.
And 40 percent say they believe that food they buy is less likely to be recalled than that purchased by other consumers.
Those are just two of the findings of a recent survey conducted by the Rutgers University Food Policy Institute.
The study was based on a survey of 1,101 Americans interviewed by telephone from Aug. 4 to Sept. 24, 2008.
“Getting consumers to pay attention to news about recalls isn’t the hard part," university psychologist William Hallman said in a new release. “It’s getting them to take the step of actually looking for recalled food products in their homes.”
Hallman, a professor of human ecology, led the study.
He says that personalizing communications may be a way to overcome the belief that recall messages are meant for someone else. That includes providing information about specific products they have purchased rather than just asking to look for recalled items.
Nearly 75 percent of respondents said that personalized recall information could be provided on grocery store receipts. And nearly 60 percent said an e-mail with similar information would be helpful.
Even when people find recalled food, not all do what they are told, the survey found.
About 12 percent of respondents reported eating the recalled product.
On the other end, nearly 25 percent of those surveyed said they took the "better safe than sorry approach" and simply threw away the product without even checking to see if it was on a recall list.
“Our research also points out that instructions to consumers must be clear and comprehensible if you want them to act appropriately after a food recall,” Hallman said in the release.
He cites as confusing the Food and Drug Administration’s recent advice to consumers not to eat pistachios, but instead to hold onto them and not throw them away.
“We found that clear, direct messages, such as ‘throw the food in the garbage’ or ‘return the food to the store for a refund,’ should motivate action," he said in the release. "Keeping people in a holding pattern is more likely to result in inaction, and it certainly increases the likelihood that someone might eat the food by accident.”
To view the full study, visit http://www.foodpolicy.rutgers.edu.
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Spud breeders tap wild stock for nematode resistance
Agricultural Research Service breeders are hopeful that a new resistant russet potato variety in the works will help growers fight Columbia root-knot nematodes.
The soil-borne pest is a problem in the Pacific Northwest, where about two-thirds of the nation's potatoes are grown, as well as in Florida, according to a news release.
Growers currently control the pest with soil fumigation. But increasing regulations and costs and the phase-out of the popular fumigant methyl bromide has sent them looking for other options.
Geneticist Chuck Brown, who's based in Prosser, Wash., leads a team that is developing the resistant russet PA99N82-4, according to the release.
The group first screened genetic material from wild potato species that are housed in the U.S. Potato Genebank in Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
Conducting simple crosses wasn't possible because the wild stock is too genetically different from commercial potatoes. So the team ended up bridging a technique that fused wild and domestic potato cells together. The process forced the DNA of both to combine.
They then used tissue culture to create plantlets, which eventually were back-crossed with domestic potatoes. As with any other variety development program, they then selected for desirable agronomic traits, weeding out characteristics, such as small tubers and off taste.
The team also used genetic markers to ensure that the outcome of the crosses still contained the nematode-resistance gene from the wild stock.
The researchers plan to conduct two more years of field testing with PA99n82-4 before they release it for use in developing commercial varieties.
