Asst. Cooperative Extension Specialist University of California Parlier, California
Grower-researcher partnerships are critical for the development of sustainable farming strategies that are ecologically sound, agronomically viable and economically feasible. Over the past decade, our research group has worked in close collaboration with a large network of California wine grape growers to (1) develop the use of on-farm habitat diversification practices to enhance biological control and (2) create an area-wide IPM program for an invasive pest. Here, we review the basic elements of our participatory methodologies along with key research findings to date.
