Varieties sprawl, climb and provide good color for landscapes, planters

Ornamental sweet potatoes, a popular cover option in landscape bedding and container mixes for years, have been named the latest Texas Superstar. 

They are warm-season annual selections of the same plant species that produces tubers loved by foodies, but these are primarily chosen for their tropical-looking foliage as a heat- and drought-resistant ground cover, said Brent Pemberton, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research ornamental horticulturist and Texas Superstar executive board member, Overton.

“There are too many varieties to dive into, but the new and old selections available are great for Texas,” he said. “They’re drought tolerant and provide great annual cover. Ornamental sweet potatoes are one of those plants that should have been a Texas Superstar already. We want to highlight them as a wonderful option for landscapes and as a filler or spiller in planters and containers.”

AgriLife Research’s chief Texas apiary inspector discusses beekeeping, agriculture

The trajectory of Mary Reed’s life changed after she took a college class on social insects and became fascinated by honeybees, their biology and their close ties with agriculture. This newfound fascination led her to take a beekeeping course where she delved deeper into the details of honeybees, hive management and beekeeping practices. 

Years later, Reed serves as the chief Texas apiary inspector with Texas A&M AgriLife Research’s Texas Apiary Inspection Service where she influences the landscape of Texas agriculture through her work.

Reed sat down to discuss her experience in the apiary industry and the unique role Texas plays to keep the industry buzzing.

New research will allow detection without opening containers for inspection

Shipping containers crisscrossing the world and stopping at ports and borders to enter the U.S. for transport across the nation may soon have to pass the “sniff” test.

Specially trained dogs are at the center of a new project by the Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense, CBTS, Center of Excellence, working in conjunction with the Center for Conservation Biology and their Conservation Canines program at the University of Washington.

Greg Pompelli, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M AgriLife-led CBTS, Bryan-College Station, said the problem today is that transnational criminal organizations are capitalizing on the difficulty and expense of detecting containerized contraband once in transit, due to huge increases in the volume of containers shipped worldwide and pressure to keep commerce moving.

Texans can buy 12th Man Coffee in select retailers beginning in June

The Center for Coffee Research and Education — a program of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture of Texas A&M AgriLife — has announced the 12th Man Coffee project. The project involves three Texas A&M University-branded roasts. The roasts honor Aggie traditions and support small coffee farmers in Central America and the coffee center itself.

“The 12th Man Coffee is a way to help support small coffee farmers, pursue the Borlaug Institute’s mission to help elevate small-holder producers out of poverty, and help the coffee center continue its research into sustainable coffee,” said Eric Brenner, program coordinator for the Center for Coffee Research and Education.

The 12th Man Coffee project coffees will be available in 9 oz. bags in select Texas retailers beginning in June. Texans can purchase the coffee at H-E-B, Brookshire Brothers and the Stella Hotel in the Bryan-College Station area, as well as some H-E-B stores in Houston.

World’s first organic treatment for Pierce’s disease in grapevines

A Texas A&M AgriLife Research study has led to the discovery of the first curative and preventive bacteriophage treatment against the pathogen Xylella fastidiosa, which causes the deadly Pierce’s disease in grapevines.

A bacteriophage therapy is a precision treatment of bacterial infections that use viruses that only infect and kill the bacterium. Bacteriophages are considered a promising alternative to antibiotics for treating infections in humans, animals and plants.

The work to develop a bacteriophage treatment for Pierce’s disease was led by Carlos Gonzalez, Ph.D., Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology professor, and member of the Texas A&M AgriLife Center for Phage Technology in collaboration with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.