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Increasing demand on agricultural water resources have caused a greater need for the use of municipal recycled wastewater (MRW) globally. However, in the United States, greenhouse growers have been slow to use it in their greenhouse operations. In this study, we seek to understand the factors that motivate and limit use of MRW among US growers. Using national survey data from 2019 through 2020, we developed a logistic regression model to understand the many factors influencing growers’ willingness to use MRW on food crops. We find that MRW quality is a primary concern and that growers’ willingness to use MRW is shaped by their direct and indirect knowledge of MRW, garnered from their own and others’ experiences using it. Given these findings, improving adoption of MRW requires collective experiential learning opportunities that gather target audiences with educators, policymakers, end users, and local authorities to simultaneously provide hands-on experience tailored to growers’ particular knowledge and concerns with feedback from peers.
Irrigation methods that can minimize water use are needed, and the performance of recently released ‘KSUZ 0802’ hybrid zoysiagrass (Zoysia matrella × Zoysia japonica) has not been evaluated under such management. Therefore, field experiments were conducted in Manhattan, KS, and Dallas, TX, USA, to compare the amount of water applied and ‘KSUZ 0802’ performance and recovery resulting from irrigation using the following: 1) routine irrigation (1.2 inches/week), 2) evapotranspiration (ET)-based irrigation (60% of reference ET), 3) soil moisture sensor (SMS)-based irrigation, and 4) no irrigation. The experiment was conducted under a rainout shelter in Kansas from 15 Jul to 27 Sep 2019 and 8 Jun to 19 Oct 2020, and in Texas the experiment was conducted under open field conditions from 22 Jun to 9 Sep 2020. The SMS-based irrigation method in Kansas reduced water application by 68% and 52%, respectively, compared with routine or ET-based irrigation. In Texas, the corresponding water savings were 29% and 13%, respectively. The water savings discrepancy was mainly due to differences in local weather conditions and irrigation demand. Visual turf quality of turf receiving SMS-based irrigation remained above the minimally acceptable level throughout the study in Kansas, whereas in Texas, turf quality declined below acceptable level after 2 weeks. In Kansas, turf retained acceptable quality for more than 21 days with no irrigation, and after rewatering, nonirrigated turf recovered back to significant green cover (93% in 2019 and 67% in 2020). ‘KSUZ 0802’ demonstrated good drought tolerance and recovery in Kansas.
The ornamental horticulture industry relies on workers to do myriad tasks, such as pruning, applying fertilizers, scouting, spraying pesticides, planting, harvesting, packing, and weeding. As a result of the perishable nature of horticultural goods, a skilled and accessible labor supply is imperative for continued industry growth and stability. The decreasing number of workers, followed by increasing wage rates, could be alarming for the economic well-being of the ornamental horticulture industry, which has already experienced a downward trend in revenue and profits. Combining 2014 and 2019 National Green Industry Survey data, this study investigates factors affecting ornamental growers’ decisions on hiring H-2A workers. Growers’ decisions are largely affected by their home state’s enforcement of the 287(g) program and the observed industry employment and total wage payment. Growers are more likely to participate in an H-2A workers program if their home state implemented the restrictive 287(g) program. Increasing industry employment of domestic workers will discourage participation in the H-2A workers program, but increasing industry wage costs will encourage participation. In contrast, individual firm characteristics play different roles in program participation and the number of H-2A workers hiring decision. Increasing farm sales value by $1 million merely increases the probability of hiring by a 0.1% point, revealing that large growers are the major beneficiaries of the H-2A workers program. After the participation hurdle is overcome, the number of H-2A workers hired is affected minimally by these factors. Our results suggest that the current H-2A program imposes a potential hurdle to participate, thus benefiting large growers.
Papaya milk, a mixture of papaya pulp and dairy milk, is one of the most popular beverages in Taiwan. However, the enzymes present in papaya can cause accumulation of hydrophobic amino acids, resulting in a bitter taste of papaya milk. Thus, it is important to select papaya cultivars without the potential to form the bitter taste, but it is difficult to select these papaya cultivars using a sensory test. The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the intensity of the bitterness with the contents of proteins and free amino acids. The results indicated that neither milk nor papaya alone tastes bitter. Heating the milk or the papaya before mixing and mixing only papaya latex with milk confirmed that an enzyme in papaya causes the bitter taste in papaya milk. The intensity of bitterness positively correlated with the contents of total soluble protein, free amino acids and the phenylalanine and tyrosine/tryptophan contents. Analyses using different papaya accessions in different seasons showed that tyrosine/tryptophan (r = 0.613***) and phenylalanine (r = 0.612***) correlate more strongly with bitterness intensity than the total soluble protein (r = 0.258*) or free amino acids (r = 0.38**). In this drink, milk provides the substrates to form the bitter substances, but the enzymes in the papaya are needed for the reaction to occur. The levels of the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine/tryptophan showed the highest correlation with the intensity of bitterness.
Since microgreens entered the market in the 1980s and 1990s, their use has expanded far beyond high-end restaurants. Most microgreens are grown in greenhouses with supplemental lighting (i.e., artificial lighting in addition to sunlight). Supplemental lighting usually includes high-pressure sodium (HPS) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs). HPS is the most common type of supplemental lighting, while LEDs are becoming more common. This article examines consumer preference and willingness to pay (WTP) for microgreens grown with LED lighting compared with HPS lighting and sunlight in the presence of different amounts and types of information. We find that negative information harms WTP, and positive information has little to no impact on WTP. We also examine how other attributes (i.e., price, location produced, production type, location purchased) impact WTP.
Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum ×morifolium) is a common ornamental crop with a qualitative short-day flowering response. Extending a short day with moderate blue [B (400–500 nm)] light inhibits flowering in greenhouse conditions with sunlight but does not indoors (without sunlight) under B + red [R (600–700 nm)] light or white light. We postulated that the contrasting responses to B light as a day extension depended on far-red [FR (700–800 nm)] light during the day, which is plentiful under sunlight but lacking indoors under B+R or white light-emitting diodes. To study this response in three chrysanthemum cultivars, we delivered indoor lighting treatments at two locations with an 11-hour main photoperiod of B, green [G (500–600 nm)], R, and FR light, where subscript values indicate the photon flux density (in µmol·m−2·s−1) of each waveband: B60R120, B60G60R60, and B60R60FR60. After each short main photoperiod, plants received 0 or 4 hours of day-extension lighting of 60 µmol·m−2·s−1 of B light (B60). Under all treatments except B60R60FR60 with day-extension B60, it took ‘Chelsey Pink’, ‘Gigi Gold’, and ‘Gigi Yellow’ 13 to 17 days to reach the first visible inflorescence and 42 to 51 days to the first open flower. In contrast, plants grown under B60R60FR60 with day-extension B60 took 41 to 67 days to reach the first visible inflorescence with few plants developing open flowers. Plants were tallest at the first open flower and after 9 weeks of treatments when grown under B60R60FR60 with day-extension B60. These results indicate that the inclusion of FR light, but not G light, in the main photoperiod is necessary for day-extension B light to inhibit flowering in chrysanthemum. On the basis of these results and those of other studies, we postulate that the spectral dependence of flowering in chrysanthemum depends on whether and how the phytochrome photoequilibrium changes during the day. In particular, a sufficiently high daytime phytochrome photoequilibrium (e.g., under B+R and B+G+R light) could establish a predominant mode of floral signaling that prevents perception of subsequent B light as a long day.