Science & Technology

Students create new tools that could make irrigating crops more efficient

More than a half century ago, UC Davis researchers invented a mechanical harvester and specially bred tomato that revolutionized the processing tomato industry. Today, a new generation of scientists is developing innovative technologies to help farmers grow crops like this more efficiently.

$1 million machine will speed fight against malnutrition in Africa

The bioinformatics company Illumina has donated a state-of the-art DNA sequencer to a global plant-breeding effort to fight malnutrition and poverty in Africa by improving the continent’s traditional crops. UC Davis is partnering in the African Orphan Crop Consortium, which is working to map and make public the genomes of 101 indigenous African foods.

To most of us, HDLs, or high-density lipoproteins, are simply tiny, cholesterol-rich particles that act as the biochemical “good guys” in the battle against clogged arteries and coronary heart disease.

But a team led by University of California, Davis, researchers found that not all HDLs are alike. The amounts and specific structure of complex sugars called glycans in these particles can powerfully influence the body’s inflammatory and immune responses.

International farmers can protect their yield for pennies

How do you see dryness? Solar drying is a simple way for smallholder farmers to preserve their harvest, but knowing when food is dry enough to store is complex. UC Davis researchers invented a low-cost, easy-to-use tool that farmers can use to measure food dryness, called the DryCardTM.

Five little known soil facts revealed

Researchers accelerate crop breeding to keep pace with changing climate

Variable weather is creating extreme challenges for crop breeding in California. How do you develop crops that will thrive under certain conditions when you can no longer predict what those conditions will be?

Scientists fill in the blanks.

The scientists who uncovered why zebras have black-and-white stripes (to repel biting flies), took the coloration question to giant pandas in a study published this week in the journal Behavioral Ecology.

Arabica coffee genome sequenced.
The first public genome sequence for Coffea arabica, the species responsible for more than 70 percent of global coffee production, was released today by researchers at the University of California, Davis.

Funding for the sequencing was provided by Suntory group, an international food and beverage company based in Tokyo.

Genetic test could help improve management of California’s 38 million acres of rangeland.

Most of the 5 million cattle that graze on California’s rangelands like to dine in the valleys and hang out by creeks. This can lead to overgrazing in riparian areas and let perfectly good forage on hillsides go to waste.

But some cows are different. They prefer to climb hills and mountains and eat along the way. If more cattle followed the road less traveled, rangelands would be more productive and sustainable throughout California and the West.

Technology developed at UC Davis is giving growers tools to help irrigate more effectively.

UC Davis biology and agricultural engineering professor Shrini Upadhyaya and his team designed a sensor that attaches to a single leaf to measure temperature, light, wind, and humidity to help optimize plant irrigation. (Diane Nelson | UC Davis)

The key to effective irrigation is giving crops the right amount of water in the right place at the right time. Easier said than done, but new technology developed at UC Davis is giving growers a convenient way to find that sweet spot.