Greenhouse Water Webinars Aim to Reduce, Remediate, Recycle
Researchers from Clean WateR3, a federally-funded research team, plan to offer six webinars focused on helping growers Reduce, Remediate and Recycle irrigation water.
The Water Education Alliance for Horticulture helps growers conserve irrigation water and manage water quality issues and includes multiple universities, with additional support from industry partners.
The grant team is managed by Sarah White at Clemson University and includes many research collaborators across the United States.
Clean WateR3’s series of six webinars will be hosted by the University of Florida IFAS Center for Public Issues Education.
The webinars will take place on consecutive Tuesdays, beginning on Jan. 24. Each webinar will be 45 minutes.
The webinar topics are:
- Webinar 1: Research update about Clean WateR3 for growers by Sarah White, Clemson University
- Webinar 2: Managing diseases caused by Phytophthora and Pythium in nurseries by Johanna Del Castillo and Cassandra Swett, University of Maryland.
- Webinar 3: How do leading growers solve water quality issues? by Paul Fisher, University of Florida.
- Webinar 4: Reasons we do or do not use water treatments and technologies by Alexa Lamm and Laura Warner, University of Florida.
- Webinar 5: Enhance irrigation practices through audits and monitoring by Jim Owen, Virginia Tech University.
- Webinar 6: Sensor-controlled irrigation and pathogen management by John Lea-Cox, University of Maryland.
The Phytophthora Online Course: Training for Nursery Growers is currently available at www.cleanwater3.org .
You can sign up for the webinars with this registration link: http://tinyurl.com/WaterWebinars17.
The webinars also will be archived at www.cleanwater3.org.
Catch a Rising Star
The deadline to nominate someone for GPN’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2017 is rapidly approaching.
If you know a young and rising industry superstar, then we want to know about that person too. But you you need to nominate that person before the Jan. 23 deadline.
Click here to go to the online nomination form.
ShopRite Debuts Organic Line
In December, ShopRite announced the launch of Wholesome Pantry Organic, a new private label line of free-form and organic products available at its 270+ stores located in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The new brand is designed as an accessible alternative for customers seeking cleaner ingredients and simpler labeling. The organic line is USDA-certified organic and complies with standards set by the USDA National Organic Program. A multi-tiered marketing campaign, in-store signage and shelf-talkers will inform shoppers about the new brand.
E-Commerce Continues to Grow at Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart’s online sales efforts are making slow and steady progress as the retailer looks to compete with Amazon.com. Last summer, Wal-Mart purchased Jet.com to accelerate its internet sales efforts. As a result of that purchase the company saw a 20 percent increase in year-over-year online sales for the fourth quarter of 2016. Wal-Mart has also been active in growing its overseas internet sales as well by investing in Chinese online retailer JD.com. The company reportedly is looking at a similar venture in India.
Kmart to Shutter More Stores
As its parent company Sears Holdings continues to struggle, Kmart has announced it will close more than 100 stores by mid-April. The announcement follows the closing of 82 Kmart stores in the third quarter of 2016. As a result of these closings, Sears Holdings will now have approximately 1,500 Kmart- and Sears-branded stores in the United States, down 60 percent from 2011 when the retailer had 3,500 stores.
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