News Stories - Page 489

From diet pills to wrinkle cream, if a product sounds too good to be true, chances are it is. Cable television and the Internet are filled with advertisements for wonder products. With gardening being a favorite outdoor activity, many of these so-called miracle products are designed with gardeners in mind.

With so many sports drinks, vitamin waters, energy drinks and specialty teas on the market, consumers may wonder which is best for them. An expert with University of Georgia says to be wary of them all and that milk and water are still the best thirst quenchers.

No single renewable energy source, such as biofuel, solar or wind, will break the United States’ fossil-fuel habits. But industry experts, scientists and policymakers will discuss how all three combined could at the 2009 Southeast Bioenergy Conference August 11-13 in Tifton, Ga.

Some new gardeners shop hard for the best gloves, hat or kneeling mat. Some new gardeners in Thomas County gear up by wearing matching outfits and working with whatever tools the warden lets them use for the day.

Rising population and growing nutritional demands will require food production to double by 2050. Where the increase in food production will occur depends upon geopolitics, climate or climate changes and environmental considerations.

What began as a vacant lot of land and one man’s dream has blossomed into a world-renowned research garden, where materials from plant breeders across the world are tested and displayed each year. The public can get a first-hand look at the University of Georgia Trial Gardens at its annual open house July 11 from 8 a.m. until noon.

Thanks to one of the wettest springs in Georgia’s history, the drought that has gripped the state for three years has ended.

Book stores and Web sites are filled with the latest manuals geared for both advanced and novice gardeners. But if buying the newest how-to book doesn’t fit your budget, turn to University of Georgia experts for free information online.

The peanut plant grows a thick canopy of compound leaves close to the ground. This structure provides for good nuts, but makes it hard for farmers to fight diseases that attack near the soil. But the plants do something naturally that can help farmers fight these threats, says a University of Georgia researcher, and the difference can be night and day—literally.

Editor’s note: K.C. Das is an associate professor of engineering with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the director of the Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program and manager of CAES biofuel research. The following is an abridged version of a Q&A on the status of bioenergy research in Georgia and its future. It originally appeared in the 2009 CAES Environmental Report magazine.