Growers prefer personal delivery of UC information

Abstract

The paper assesses how information developed and disseminated by the University of California (UC) is applied to farmers' decision and management systems. A study of 200 tree crop (walnut, almond, prune) farmers in a six-county region of northern California, USA, was conducted to determine information sources used, adoption of new management practices, and views on the usefulness and relative importance of particular information sources. Adoption of six management practices was studied: planting, rootstock and variety selection, pruning, integrated pest management, potassium application and irrigation. The implications of the results for the development of delivery systems are noted.