February 2019 - 38

INDUSTRY NEWS
Deadline for irrigation
study approaches
The U.S. Department
of Agriculture's National
Agricultural Statistics Service
(NASS) is conducting a special
study to collect detailed
information on aquaculture and
irrigation practices.
On Jan. 3, NASS mailed the
2018 Irrigation and Water
Management Survey, formerly
called the Farm and Ranch
Irrigation Survey, to a sample
of producers who reported
irrigation practices on their
2017 Census of Agriculture
forms. When responding to
this survey, producers will be
asked to provide information
on topics such as water sources
and the amount of water
used, acres irrigated by type of
system, irrigation and yield by
crop, and system investments
and energy costs. The results
of this survey will aid efforts to
develop and promote efficient
irrigation practices and long-term
sustainability of water resources.
The deadline to complete the
survey is Feb. 15.
Producers can respond to these
questionnaires online, by mail, or
by phone. The online questionnaire
has time-saving features such as
automatic calculations and the
convenience of being accessible on
mobile and desktop devices.
New help for mosaic
tomato plant virus
The U.S. EPA and Health
Canada's Pest Management
Regulatory Agency (PMRA)
have approved a new crop
protectant, Pepino mosaic virus,
strain CH2, isolate 1906.
The new inoculant, branded
PMV-01, is a mild form of the
Pepino mosaic tomato plant virus
(PepMV) and protects greenhouse
tomatoes against aggressive forms
of that same plant virus through
cross-protection, which is a plant
defense mechanism against viral
infections.
The EPA and PMRA approvals
were facilitated by Village Farms
International on behalf of PMV01's
Belgium-based developer, De
Ceuster Meststoffen NV.
Michael DeGiglio, chief executive
officer, Village Farms, said the
company has a 30-year history in
greenhouse growing. Facilitation
of the PMV-01 registration was
led by Michael Bledsoe, Village
Farms' vice president of food
safety and regulatory affairs, a
renowned expert and advocate for
the research and registration of
greenhouse crop protectants.
Farm stress, suicides
conference topics
of any vocational group, according
to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
" Since 1999, the suicide rate in
America has gone up 30 percent, "
said Sam Pardue, dean and director
of the University of Georgia College
of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences (CAES).
Addressing 135 attendees at
UGA's first Rural Stress Summit
held Dec. 10-11 in Atlanta,
Pardue said, " I grew up in a rural
community and I think there are
so many good things about it that
I'm looking to this group to help
save it. "
Sponsored by the CAES and
The life of a farmer is often
wrought with worry and financial
stress due to a variety of factors
from crop disease and destructive
insects to violent storms, drought
and damaging floods. All of these
factors and more contribute to the
sobering fact that the suicide rate
among farmers is the third-highest
UGA's College of Family and
Consumer Sciences and School
of Social Work, the event drew
participants from 20 states and
the District of Columbia and
was organized to educate and
motivate representatives of stateand
federal-funded groups that
serve rural Americans.
" Everyone knows what it's like
to have stress, anxiety and to be
burned out. People in rural areas
suffer just like those in metro areas.
They just may not know where to
seek help for a behavioral health
issue, " Pardue said.
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38 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
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February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2019
