USDA-APHIS announced a late 2013 launch of a new electronic Lacey Act Plant and Plant Product Declaration (PPQ Form 505) submission tool. This online tool called the Lacey Act Web Governance System (LAWGS) will allow filers to submit Lacey Act Declarations electronically without needing to mail in a paper declaration.
The LAWGS tool is intended to assist importers who are currently filing Lacey Act paper declarations. Although this tool does not replace the Automated Broker Interface, a process used by a majority of importers, it will provide an alternative method for filing declarations allowing APHIS to be more responsive to importers’ needs.
LAWGS will allow filers to save commonly used declaration data in templates for quick and easy future submissions. In addition, an information technology infrastructure will assist the agency in evaluating and monitoring the declarations more efficiently for agreement with the Act.
The Lacey Act is a conservation law that protects both wildlife and plants by legislating civil and criminal penalties for a variety of violations. It bans trade of certain wildlife, fish, and plants that have been unlawfully taken, transported, or sold.
For more: www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act
Greenhouse research shifting focus to food crops
An increasing number of students majoring in horticulture at the University of Arkansas are focused on food crop production. Horticulture professor Mike Evans said there has been a shift in interest by the students from greenhouse-grown floriculture crops to greenhouse-grown food crops. Evans said that except for turf management, students interested in food crop production make up the majority of students majoring in horticulture at the university.
“We are interested in looking at new species of fresh greens and the breeding of greens,” Evans said. “We are particularly interested in developing crops that can take Southern hot climates. By converting our facilities to focus on greenhouse food crops we are looking to become a central institution to study new species of greens, developing new crops, breeding new cultivars, and developing production protocols for these crops.”
Evans said the agriculture industry in the United States has been largely field-based, but there are signs that changes are occurring when it comes to controlled environment food production.
“Much of Europe and many parts of Canada and Japan are significantly ahead of the U.S. when it comes to the development of controlled environment food production systems,” he said. “We are very much in a catch-up mode.”
Fresh greens is one of the new species the university is considering.
“Most of the greens research, including breeding, being done in this country, by-and-large, is for field production,” he said. “Those same varieties that were originally evaluated in the field are then taken and grown in the greenhouse. We typically have not bred varieties for greenhouse production.
“We want to find greens that have lower inputs, that don’t need much water or fertilizer. They also shouldn’t have many pest problems, have a rapid production cycle and can especially take heat.”
For more: http://hort.uark.edu
People Eleven of North America’s largest growers are leading an effort to improve the industry’s sustainability by recycling water bottles into plant containers. The success of their programs was recently recognized by induction into the Million Bottle Club, an award given to growers who have recycled more than one million plastic water bottles into plant containers. The program is organized by McConkey’s rEarth plastic water bottle recycling program. This year’s Million Bottle Award recipients include: 10 million bottles or more – Colorama Wholesale Nursery; 5 million bottles or more – Armstrong Garden Centers, Do Right’s Plant Growers; 1 million bottles or more – Kawahara Nursery, Cal Color Growers, YC Nurseries, Hong’s Nursery, Iwasaki Brothers, Smith Gardens, Certified Plant Growers and Sidhu & Sons.
Much of his breeding work at Cornell has involved Alstroemeria flowers, including the development of two new varieties: ‘Mauve Majesty’ and ‘Tangerine Tango.’ His cultivar ‘Sweet Laura’ is the only fragrant, commercial variety in the world. |
Floriculture search engine now online
Industry members now have online access to a comprehensive floriculture library containing information that may have been previously unavailable. The American Floral Endowment (AFE) has partnered with North Carolina State University (NCSU) to create the Floriculture InfoSearch Engine, a powerful search engine for convenient and comprehensive access to floriculture literature, videos and presentations.
The website also contains a floriculture archive with materials from AFE, NCSU, scientific journals and trade publications, all of which is accessible and searchable through one website. AFE, the NCSU College of Agriculture Life Sciences (CALS) and the NCSU Department of Horticultural Science are funding the project, available online now.
For more: http://floriculture infosearch.ces.ncsu.edu
Calendar
SEPTEMBER
15-17, GLEE International Garden & Leisure Show, Birmingham, U.K.;
www.gleebirmingham.com.
18-19, CanWest Hort Show, Vancouver, B.C., Canada;
www.canwesthortshow.com.
19-21, American In Bloom Symposium, Orlando, Fla.;
www.americainbloom.org.
19-21, The Landscape Show, Orlando, Fla.;
www.fngla.org.
OCTOBER
9-10, Canadian Greenhouse Conference, Niagara Falls, Ontario;
www.canadiangreenhouseconference.com.
23-24, Landscape Ontario’s Expo, Garden and Floral Expo, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;
www.loexpo.ca.
NOVEMBER
5-6, OFA Grow & Sell for Profit Conference, Raleigh, N.C.;
www.ofa.org.
6-8, FloraHolland Trade Fair, Aalsmeer, the Netherlands;
www.floraholland.com.
JANUARY
14-15, CNLA-CGGA Winter Symposium, Manchester, Conn.;
www.flowersplantsinct.com.
16-17, OSU Greenhouse Management Workshop – Water Management, Wooster, Ohio;
www.oardc.ohio-state.edu.
22-24, Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.;
www.fngla.org.
Explore the September 2013 Issue
Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
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