UC Davis experts: Agriculture and related ecosystems.

UC Davis faculty members from a variety of disciplines are available to discuss issues related to agriculture and related ecosystems. If you need information on a topic not listed, please contact Patricia Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu .

How agricultural ecosystems work

Chris van Kessel is a professor and chair of the Department of Agronomy and Range Science. His research focuses on understanding the basic concepts and unifying principles behind agricultural ecosystems. For example, how do these ecosystems function and how can they produce food efficiently in a sustainable manner? He has a particular interest in soil fertility, nutrient cycling, cropping systems and landscape-scale agronomy. He and colleagues recently confirmed that foraging waterfowl in winter-flooded rice fields helped control weeds and increase the decomposition of rice straw from the previous season's crop. Contact: Chris van Kessel, Agronomy and Range Science, (530) 752-4377, cvankessel@ucdavis.edu.

Crop biodiversity and domestication

Paul Gepts is a professor of agronomy and a plant geneticist. His internationally known research and teaching program focuses on the evolution of crop plants and the effect of domestication on their genetic diversity. He has conducted field research in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Malawi. He has published extensively on the genetics of beans and cow peas, as well as on domestication and genetic diversity in general. He can discuss the origin of crops, crop biodiversity, use and ownership of crop varieties, gene flow between domesticated crops and their wild relatives, and gene flow in relation to transgenic crops. Gepts is fluent in French, Flemish (Dutch) and Spanish. Contact: Paul Gepts, Agronomy and Range Science, (530) 752-7743, plgepts@ucdavis.edu.

Rice production systems

Jim Hill, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist, is an international authority on how rice crops are grown. His work focuses not only on increasing rice productivity but also on improving the environmental effects of rice-farming methods. For example, he and colleagues have conducted research and education programs that were instrumental in promoting irrigation systems designed to eliminate off-site flows of agricultural chemicals from rice fields. In collaboration with the rice industry, Ducks Unlimited, and others, he has conducted research on winter-flooding to enhance waterfowl habitat. He recently spent three years at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, coordinating irrigated-rice research and outreach efforts throughout Asia's rice-production areas. Contact: Jim Hill, Agronomy and Range Science, (530) 752-3458, jehill@ucdavis.edu.

Recycling agricultural wastes

Stuart Pettygrove is a UC Davis Cooperative Extension soils specialist. He is conducting research on dairy farms and in the laboratory to develop methods for predicting the value of liquid dairy manure as a nitrogen fertilizer for crops. He also has studied and conducted extension education programs on precision agriculture, rice-straw management, irrigation-fertilizer interactions in vegetable production, and plant availability of potassium in soils. Contact: Stuart Pettygrove, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-2533, gspettygrove@ucdavis.edu.

Plants in adverse conditions

Andre Lauchli, a UC Davis professor of plant nutrition, studies how crop plants respond and adapt to adverse soil conditions that can be toxic to plants or inhibit plant growth. Particular emphasis is placed on plants growing on salt-affected soils or soils that have excessive boron concentrations. Salt-affected soils are widespread in irrigated agriculture and can also be high in boron. One project focuses on understanding the interaction of soil salinity with the uptake and utilization of mineral nutrients in plants. Contact: Andre Lauchli, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-9746, aelauchli@ucdavis.edu.

Media contacts:

Patricia Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu

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Last updated Oct. 31, 2006