It has been an honor serving our California clientele as the Director of the Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center (FNRIC) for one more active year. I am blessed to have great support from Ms. Janet Zalom, Ms. Penny Stockdale, Ms. Antoinette Machado, the Department of Plant Sciences, and peers, without them nothing would have been possible. In cooperation with our UCDAVIS-UCANR peers, we were able to expand and maintain our website, and produced and delivered ‘state of the art courses.' Blogs, models, animations, and smart phone applications were incorporated to our website as an approach to maintain and reaching new clienteles.
We ended this 2014 year very strong with several outreach courses. The international conference, Understanding and Preparing for the Threat of Plum Pox Virus Spreading to California and the Western States was led by Ted De Jong and supported by Brooke Jacobs (FNRIC). This conference held on the UC Davis campus (September 29-30, 2014) provided useful information concerning the threat posed by Plum Pox Virus to California stone fruit growers and prepares them for any potential problems.
Our third course in two years, the ‘Principles of Fruit and Nut Tree Growth, Cropping and Management' was completed in November. An exciting component of the class is the four-day field trip throughout fruit and nut growing regions of California that helped to increase the participants' network and develop friendships. We are still in communication with our first rooster of students (2013 course) as we expect their feedback on ways to improve our California outreach mission. Ted and I enjoyed interacting with a group of students of different ages and levels of experience in orchard management. We had many young students and beginner farmers interested in Pomology. FNRIC is committed to developing and providing support through our courses and website as part of the UC land grant mission.
Almost at the same time, the Pistachio workgroup UCANR, with the support of the FNRIC and ANR, delivered the three day extension course, Advances in Pistachio Production (November 18–20, 2014). Dr. Louise Ferguson (Plant Sciences) from FNRIC coordinated the delivery of this course. This course encompassed a wide array of farm advisors, specialists and faculty instructors representing decades of experience in California pistachio production.
In the last few weeks, we organized our future activities calendar that includes three important short courses:
• Advances in Walnut Production Short Course Nov. 16 to 20, 2015
• Principles of Fruit and Nut Tree Growth, Cropping & Management Feb., 2016
• Advances in Almond Production Short Course Nov., 2016
During the coming year, I will keep pursuing ideas on how to improve the coordination and dissemination of University of California research-based information, accomplishments, and statewide research and extension activities related to fruit & nut crops. I will keep listening to our supporters, increasing our network, improving our relationship with our clientele to fulfill our FNRIC mission.
Thank you for all you do to make our FNRIC useful. I wish everyone a Happy Holiday season with your family and friends, and a fruitful New Year.
I keep listening to the rain and I say to myself let it rain, rain, rain ….
Sincerely,
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