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| This Week's Titles: |
| Reducing
Flea Problems On Pets |
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Seed Storage Facility Ready
If Needed |
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| Cotton
Acreage Expected To Increase |
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| Home
Lawns Need A Spring Checkup |
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| Using
Dye To Aid Vegetable Production |
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| Reducing
Flea Problems On Pets |
1:49 |
Don't allow fleas to stuff
themselves at the expense of your pets. |
When fleas begin growing
up and move out on their own, they have seven to ten days to
find a host animal. If they don't they die. Nancy Hinkle, an
entomologist with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences says cat fleas are the species of
fleas most common in Georgia. Despite being called cat fleas,
they also get their meals from dogs, raccoons, skunks, and even
some birds. When fleas bite into our pets, they scratch and
bite themselves to get relief. But they only increase their
suffering. "In a flea allergic animal these salivary antigens
or things that they are allergic to cause intense itching. The
animal responds by scratching, biting, and causing a lot of
damage to its skin. This affected animal will typically display
obsessive grooming behavior constantly licking at it's body,
causing hair loss and leaving the skin with weeping sores that
can produce secondary infection." Nancy Hinkle with the College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Since fleas have
to have blood to survive, treating dogs and cats is the best
way to kill fleas. Several products are available at local veterinarian
offices that are safe and effective. John Harrell, University
of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Seed
Storage Facility Ready If Needed |
1:41 |
College scientists have a seed
storage facility in Griffin many people don't know about. |
The storage facility is
a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Research service,
and is housed at the University of Georgia's Griffin campus.
Other storage facilities across the nation, and a main seed
storage facility in Fort Collins, Colorado make up the germ
plasm system. Gary Pederson, a U.S.D.A. scientist with the University
of Georgia says the purpose of the facility is to preserve genetic
variability of crops for use today and in the future. The facility
would bloom into action, if something happened, and all the
crops in the U .S. had to be replenished. The storage facility
has taken on added importance, since 9-11, and the threat of
a bio-terrorist attack. "Yea, I think with bio-terrorism you
don't know, you know, where the next problem is going to occur
and we may have material in here that can help save a particular
crop that may be susceptible to a particular disease or something."
Gary Pederson with the University of Georgia. The facility currently
houses more than 82,000 seed or germ plasm samples of more than
1, 430 crop species, from more than 180 countries. Tissue cultures
of crops like sweet potatoes are also stored in the Griffin
facility. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Cotton
Acreage Expected To Increase |
1:40 |
Farmers in Georgia and the
nation are expected to increase cotton acreage in 2003. |
Farmers nationwide are
expected to plant around 14.25 million acres of cotton this
year. This figure is 2.1 percent above last year. Don Shurley,
an agricultural economist with the University of Georgia Extension
Service says weather problems in late winter and early spring
may cause farmers to plant even more cotton. "That's their projection,
my feeling is that we'll probably do a little bit more than
that, you know weather has not cooperated with us as far as
getting the corn crop out, and some of the acreage that farmers
may have wanted to put into corn may end up in cotton or peanuts."
Don Shurley with the College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences. Cotton prices are currently holding at good levels,
around sixty cents per pound. But if foreign acreage and production
also increase, U.S. exports could weaken, making it difficult
to hold on to these good market prices. John Harrell, University
of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Home
Lawns Need A Spring Checkup |
1:51 |
It's time to give your home
lawn a checkup, so it won't get sick. |
During the spring, lawns
begin to show their green colors, and many homeowners love to
walk barefoot in the lush, green grass. But a plant pathologist
with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences says two diseases called brown patch
and dollar spot could infect a home lawn, and make it sick.
He adds there are symptoms of these diseases that you can look
for. "Usually turf grass diseases, especially brown patch shows
up as discolored spots, bare patches, and thin grass, and usually
big circles, and you should be looking for that. This is basically
the most important, dollar spot is small circles of discolor
spots more whitish looking grass." That was Alfredo Martinez
with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
If you find symptoms of these diseases in your home lawn, take
a sample and send it to your local county extension office.
If the results are positive, and brown patch or dollar spot
have infected your lawn, there will also be recommendations
that suggest fertilization treatment, adding more light or air
movement, or fungicide treatments. John Harrell, University
of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Using
Dye To Aid Vegetable Production |
1:41 |
College scientists are dyeing
to help farmers grow vegetables better. |
Vegetable farmers in Georgia,
especially South Georgia, can grow crops all season because
of the mild climate. Scientists with the University of Georgia's
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are using
dye to help vegetable farmers grow their crops more efficiently
and effectively. The research involves injecting dye into drip
trickle irrigation systems. "And what we've been doing is using
dyes that are injected through the micro-irrigation systems,
the drip tapes, and to see how, we want to see how the movement
of the dye was in the beds and to determine from that how pesticides
would move." That was Alex Csinos with the College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, who adds the technique would allow
farmers to apply fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides in
a way that would help the environment. However, more research
is needed, especially in the sandy soils of South Georgia, since
initial results in sandy soils show the drip tape was not delivering
enough material to spread over the entire bed where vegetables
are grown. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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