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UC and
the Economy
Supporting
Industry Clusters
Training
California’s
Workforce
UC
Impacts
on Technology
Growing
California’s
Agriculture
Campus
Economic
Impacts
UC-Industry
Partnerships
California
Institutes
for Science and
Innovation
Technology
Transfer
Energy
and
Transportation
Engineering
and
Computer Science
Business
Schools
UC
Employment
Opportunities
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Growing California's Agriculture |
California farmers and ranchers produced more than
half of the nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables, and generated
$27.2 billion in gross cash receipts in 2000. A major employer and
revenue generator in the state, agriculture accounts for 1.1 million
jobs and more than $60 billion in personal income. California is
the nation’s leader in agricultural exports, shipping more
than $6.5 billion in food and agricultural products around the world.
California grows more than 350 commodities, including
all of the country’s almonds, artichokes, brussel sprouts,
dates, dried plums, figs, kiwifruit, nectarines, olives, pistachios
and walnuts. Billion-dollar commodities include milk and cream,
grapes, nursery products, lettuce, and cattle and calves. Tomatoes,
cotton, flowers and foliage, strawberries and hay round out the
10 leading income generators
for 2002-03.
California has been the nation’s number
one agricultural state every year since 1948. Eight
of the top 10 agricultural counties are in California.
UC’s Role
Our farmers and ranchers have achieved this steady record of economic
growth over the past half century, while implementing new management
and production practices that make their operations the most environmentally
compatible and natural resources conscious in the nation. Much of
this economic success can be traced to the impact and influence
of the University of California’s research and extension programs.
Administered through UC’s statewide Division
of Agriculture and Natural Resources, these programs are optimized
to take new scientific discoveries from research laboratories on
UC campuses, test and evaluate them in the field, then adapt and
deliver practical applications directly to farmers and ranchers
through UC
Cooperative Extension county offices.
Cooperative Extension farm advisors, working with
growers, processors and local governments, regulatory agencies and
the environmental community, anticipate and identify emerging problems
in the field. They share this information, which often has substantial
economic implications, with specialists and researchers of the Agricultural
Experiment Station on the Berkeley, Davis and Riverside campuses.
Recognizing emerging problems helps set UC research priorities.
The close interaction between users in the field,
county-based Cooperative Extension advisors and scientists on UC
campuses has served California agriculture extremely well. Growers
maintain a competitive advantage in national and world markets through
early adoption of UC-developed technological advances and have access
to new varieties of grapes, strawberries, stone fruits and citrus
before the competition.
This network also has led to rapid and widespread
dissemination and acceptance of new management practices impacting
on-farm production and yields, postharvest storage and packaging,
reductions in chemical and water use, increased agricultural sustainability
and resource conservation, to name but a few. These innovations,
in turn, have permitted the state’s agriculturalists to meet
the challenge of producing a safe and healthful food supply while
addressing the environmental and resource issues related to agriculture.
Research Pays Off
How good an investment is UC’s agricultural research? A recent
study by the UC
Agricultural Issues Center concludes that the average annual
internal rate of return for public investment in California agricultural
research and extension from 1949 through 1985 was about 20 percent.
During this period, farmers realized a 2.8-fold increase in output
with only a 1.6-fold increase in inputs. The difference was attributed
to productivity gains resulting from research and development.
The study also provided real-world examples of
the role and relationship of UC agricultural production and productivity.
Case studies for dairy, grapes and wine, and strawberries demonstrated
the very positive economic and environmental impacts of UC research
on these leading commodities. For example, California’s $767
million strawberry industry, which now grows berries nearly year-round,
relies on a steady stream of new varieties developed, patented and
released by the University.
The state’s multi-billion dollar wine industry
also depends on UC research. More than 95 percent of the grapes
grown in California come from rootstock that originated at UC
Davis. Disease-resistant varieties, including chardonnay, cabernet
sauvignon, merlot, zinfandel and sauvignon blanc, now provide winemakers
with a reliable supply of high-quality grapes. Many of the state's
winemakers and grape growers receive their education and training
at UC.
The dairy industry has also benefited from UC research.
Advanced breeding programs and other genetic improvements have increased
milk production in the average cow to 20,500 pounds a year compared
to less than 10,000 pounds in 1960. Dairy herds are healthier, too,
thanks to new vaccines, diagnostic tools, disease prevention, and
computerized feed and nutrition programs developed through research.
Learn more about UC's current agricultural research
and extension activities — and their roles in our economic
prosperity and quality of life — at the following sites:
UC and
Agriculture
Division of Agriculture
and Natural Resources
Cooperative
Extension
UC Agricultural
Issues Center
California Agricultural
Overview: Statistical Reference
(California Department of Food and
Agriculture)
UC and
Winemaking (Davis Department of Viticulture
and Enology)
Agriculture Economic and Public Policy
Agricultural
Issues Center
Davis
Agricultural and Resource Economics Library
Giannini Foundation
of Agricultural Economics
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National
Public Radio story on close ties between UC research and California's
farming industry
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