Morris Gbolo spends a lot of time thinking about the home-cooked dinners he and his wife, Ernestine, used to enjoy before they fled their home amid civil war in Liberia 12 years ago. For Mr. Gbolo, 55, memories of mealtime in West Africa, where he was a farmer, have become a source of entrepreneurial inspiration and a way to make friends: As owner and operator of Morris Gbolo’s World Crops Farm, a 13-acre parcel in Buena Vista Township that he bought in January to grow the produce of his homeland (bitter ball, cassava), he hopes to help fellow transplants connect and feel closer to home… Ethnic crops are a thriving business for small farmers in New Jersey, said Brian Schilling, an extension specialist in agricultural policy at Rutgers University’s Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics in New Brunswick. Farmers often focus on “high-value crops” ike peaches and blueberries to remain “economically sustainable,” he explained, but niche markets, like West African produce, are also becoming more viable… Richard VanVranken, a Rutgers agriculture agent in Atlantic County, said that word about the university’s ethnic crop work was spreading, in part from referrals by the state’s Agriculture Department. “I now get on average a call per week from new farmers or established growers exploring new ethnic markets from around the state and way beyond,” he said.
Archives for June 2015
Bridgeton Resident Recipient of Farm Credit East Scholarship
Farm Credit East, the Northeast’s largest agricultural lending cooperative, recently awarded $48,000 in college scholarships to 32 student recipients. Each student received a $1,500 scholarship to apply towards his or her higher education… The recipi…
Drought: Saving Water with Plant Genetics, Breeding Salt Tolerance
As arid conditions increase in various parts of the nation and world, scientists focus are focusing on using drought-resistant plants and increasing the number of plants able to use treated wastewater that still contains salt. The less water for plants, the more clean water for humans… Researcher Stacy Bonos, at the Department of Plant Biology & Pathology at Rutgers University, and her team recently published their research on perennial ryegrass in Crop Science journal. They’ve found that perennial ryegrass is controlled by additive genetic effects rather than environmental effects, meaning that salt tolerance can be bred for… Bonos’ research team measured salt tolerance using something called “visual percent green color”–the percentage of the plant that is green and actively growing, as compared to brown and therefore dying, according to a release… “It most makes sense…in areas like Las Vegas where there may not be much drinkable water available to water your lawn,” Bonos said in a release. “That’s a prime example.”
The Rutgers Scarlet: The New Strawberry Hybrid You Need To Know About
Most likely, if you’ve had a fresh strawberry- whether bought from the store or grown locally- it’s been a variety that was designed to thrive in California. That’s because the state produces about 80 percent of this country’s most delicious red fruit …
Finding A Cold-Hardy Peach Variety Is Not That Easy
Peach trees and cold temperatures don’t mix. Just ask growers in the Midwest and East as they are once again reeling from another brutal winter where sub-zero temperature left trees severely damaged… After suffering loses at the hands of Mother Nature, growers may seek to learn more about varieties that are deemed cold-hardy. However, the quest to find a cold-hardy peach is more difficult than you might expect. A variety that is known to be cold tolerant in one area may find the differing weather patterns in another region more difficult to adjust to, says Jerry Frecon, professor emeritus at Rutgers University… In the end, Frecon says regardless of varieties or cultural practices, carrying crop insurance may give a grower more piece of mind. However, it may not be offered in a particular area and some may view it as a waste of time… “The risks are so great and the weather so unpredictable in many areas of the U.S. That it is hard to fathom growing certain perennial crops like peaches,” he says. “You will have a difficult task.”
Small Changes Add Up to Big Savings
Saving money never goes out of style. For the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy, pennywise practices can go a long way toward spending less… “It’s important to save because it gives you a framework. People are looking for steps to take,” Barbara O’Neill, a Rutgers University professor and author who specializes in financial resource management, said… Having a financial goal gives direction and provides motivation, O’Neill said. She promotes a “stepping down” program whereby individuals are “not giving something up, but are finding a lower price.”… If one is buying pancakes, for example, there are a few options: At the top step is the most expensive choice- buying pancakes at a sit-down restaurant; a cheaper option is purchasing pancakes at a fast-food restaurant; another step down, saving more money, is buying frozen pancakes at the supermarket; and the least costly way to go is making pancakes at home from scratch.
Drought Fears Washed Away in Weeks Since Super Dry May
Following round after round of relentless rain over the last two weeks, the idea that a drought could sweep New Jersey just a month ago is dead in the water… “The reason for the changes was due to the very good news that plentiful rains have returned to New Jersey,” said David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University. “Most of the state has already received from 1 to 2 times the average June rainfall.”… “New Jersey had reached a critical point, where just a few more weeks of dry weather would have put us in a dangerous hole,” Robinson said about last month, which was also recorded as the third warmest May.
Recycled Water, Salt-Tolerant Grass A Water-Saving Pair
Plants need water. People need water. Unfortunately, there’s only so much clean water to go around- and so the effort begins to find a solution… Luckily for people, some plants are able to make do without perfectly clean water, leaving more good water for drinking. One strategy is to use treated wastewater, containing salt leftover from the cleaning process, to water large areas of turf grass. These areas include athletic fields and golf courses. Golf courses alone use approximately 750 billion gallons of water annually in arid regions… “We found through a series of experiments that salt tolerance in perennial ryegrass is highly controlled by additive genetic effects rather than environmental effects,” said Stacy Bonos from Rutgers University. “This is great news for breeders because we now know salt tolerance can be more easily bred for.”
NJ 4-H Members to Attend National 4-H Citizenship Conference
Thirty 4-H members have been selected to represent New Jersey at the 2015 Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF) Conference. This conference, now in its 56th year, will be held July 5-11 at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Citizenship Washington Focus is a 4-H leadership program for high school youth. Delegations from […]
Too Much Vitamin B12 Linked to Acne
Too much vitamin B12 may promote acne, according to a new study… In the study, scientists investigated the differences between skin bacteria from people prone to acne and bacteria from people with clear-skinned faces. The researchers looked at the bacteria’s gene expression, hoping to figure out why Propionibacterium acnes, which is the most common skin microbe, causes pimples in some people but not in others… “The data and hypothesis are very intriguing, but much additional investigation is required to determine if this is a real cause-and-effect phenomenon,” said Josh Miller, a professor of nutritional sciences at Rutgers University who was not involved with the study… In addition, although the new findings suggest that B12 supplements may promote inflammation, other studies have suggested the opposite- that vitamin B12 has anti-inflammatory properties, Miller said.