UC Riverside Marks a Century of Agricultural Innovation — Still Thriving in an Urban Empire

Citrus Research Center David Morgan

AES Centennial

100UC Riverside marks a century of agricultural innovation — still thriving in an urban empire

arly in the 20th century, when the citrus belt facilities, such as a state-of-the-art Insectary and cut a wide swath from Pasadena to Red- Quarantine Facility and two campus-operated fi eld Elands, an outpost experiment station oper- stations totaling nearly 1,000 acres. ated by UC helped to ensure, through science, the “This campus has a legacy of research in agri- prosperity of what was even then a $20 million culture and natural resources that has strengthened industry. one of this state’s most important industries and Today, sprawling suburban developments, helped it remain competitive, whether that meant gleaming midrise offi ce towers and crowded shop- surmounting new insect pests and plant diseases or ping malls have replaced all but a few pockets of developing new products for new markets,” says Southern California’s citrus empire. Yet the citrus Steven R. Angle, dean of the UC Riverside College industry thrives in California, and the experimental of Natural and Agriculture Sciences. outpost known as the Citrus Experiment Station The centennial celebration commenced with a (CES) in Riverside has grown and expanded its mis- barbecue and open house in April, featuring tours sion in support of the state’s diverse, nearly $32 bil- of the on-campus fi eld station and ceremonial lion agricultural industry — still tops in the nation. plantings of the UC Riverside–developed manda- This year marks the centennial of UC rins ‘Gold Nugget’ and ‘Yosemite Gold’. It contin- Riverside’s Citrus Research Center-Agricultural ues this October with groundbreaking of the Experiment Station (CRC-AES). What began $53.9 million Genomics Building on campus and, in 1906 with a staff of two at the base of Mt. next February, a banquet and symposium that takes Rubidoux near downtown Riverside is today a prospective look at the next century of agricul- a multifaceted enterprise involving 140 faculty tural sustainability (see box, page 179). and specialists in the experiment station and “The contributions of UC Riverside are wo- Cooperative Extension, and an annual budget of ven throughout the citrus industry, not only in approximately $22 million. The CRC-AES now California, but nationally and internationally,” tackles a broad array of agricultural, urban and says Ted Batkin, president of the Citrus Research natural resource problems with fundamental and Board in California and chair of the National Citrus applied research in plant biology, pest and disease Research Council. “What is so impressive is the management, and the environment and natural connection between the Agricultural Experiment resources. They are supported with advanced Station and Cooperative Extension specialists. It is

176 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE • VOLUME 60, NUMBER 4 ca. 1917

Far left, the parasitic wasp Gonatocerus triguttatus was Herbert John Webber evaluated at the Citrus Experiment Station (CES) for (seated far right), fi rst biological control of the glassy-winged sharpshooter. Left CES director, in a 1916 and above, in 1918, CES moved from Mt. Rubidoux near staff photograph. downtown to the site that would become UC Riverside. seamless in providing a continuum of basic discov- The expanded station moved in 1918 to the east- eries through fi eld application and it is what makes ern edge of the city, on a site that would become the Riverside campus particularly distinctive.” UC Riverside in 1954, occupying a stately Spanish mission–style headquarters — a building now des- A “valentine” for Riverside ignated as a Riverside County historical landmark. The offi cial establishment of the Citrus (Today it houses UC Riverside’s A. Gary Anderson Experiment Station is pegged to the date that Graduate School of Management.) the UC Board of Regents formally approved Groundbreaking research the leases for the Riverside property — Feb. 14, 1907 — though the station had begun operating Experiment station scientists conducted ground- some months prior. Opening of the station fol- breaking research that led to the delivery of new va- lowed a vigorous lobbying effort by leaders of rieties of citrus and other commodities, innovative the Riverside Horticultural Club and Southern pest management techniques utilizing advances in California Fruit Growers Exchange, a mission that biological control and integrated pest management landed Riverside the citrus station and Whittier a (IPM), and new insights on California’s natural pathological laboratory. resources that would inform both environmental When it came time to upgrade and expand the quality and crop production. station, an intense political battle was waged be- Among early accomplishments was the control Alfred M. Boyce, with tween Riverside and the San Fernando Valley, a of the citrophilus mealybug by a natural enemy, one pipe, was CES director then-emerging citrus belt with powerful lobbying of the station’s fi rst ventures in biological control. from 1952 to 1968. interests related to development and construc- In the 1940s, Herbert John Webber and Leon D. tion of the aqueduct from the Owens Valley to Los Batchelor — the station’s fi rst and second direc- Angeles. Riverside viewed itself as the underdog, tor, respectively — published The Citrus Industry, a so there was wild elation in the streets when, on comprehensive two-volume work compiling scien- Dec. 22, 1914, the UC Regents voted to retain the tifi c knowledge about the distribution, botany, ge- station in Riverside. netics and reproduction of citrus. Tristeza disease, In a day now famous in Riverside history, the which threatened to wipe out California’s citrus in- steam whistle at the electric plant blew for 15 dustry starting in the 1930s, was solved after station minutes and Mission Inn owner Frank Miller or- scientists determined that the disease was caused dered the bells at the hotel be rung continuously. by a virus; a new disease-resistant rootstock was Riverside civic leader and citrus pioneer John Henry Reed called it “the most important day in the history of Riverside” in the Riverside Daily Press.

Civic leader and citrus pioneer John Henry Reed was a long-time advocate for CES.

http://CaliforniaAgriculture.ucop.edu • OctOber–December 2006 177 California’s population growth, leading to environmental problems associated with the urban-wildland and urban-agriculture interfaces, has prompted a renewed focus on natural resource protection.

developed by W.P. (Bill) Bitters, who also served as Also in the 1960s, the fi rst International Citrus director of the Citrus Variety Collection for 35 years. Symposium was held at UC Riverside — organized Shortly after its formation, the station expanded by the late Homer D. Chapman — drawing 800 its mission to include work on many other sub- delegates from more than 50 countries and lead- tropical crops. The Riverside station gained a ing to the formation of the International Society of strong reputation in the avocado industry, due in Citriculture (ISC). ISC, still headquartered at UC large part to the efforts of George Zentmyer — Riverside, has convened congresses around the later elected to the prestigious National Academy world ever since, with the next one scheduled for of Sciences — who would be credited with saving 2008 in China. the industry from avocado decline disease with his the second 50 years work on the soilborne fungus Phytophthora cinna- moni and his introduction of resistant rootstock. When it entered its second half-century, the ex- Following World War II, and under the direction periment station carried out a diverse, broad-based of Alfred M. Boyce, the Citrus Experiment Station research program, but citrus remained an important enjoyed its greatest growth. When UC Riverside focus area and scientists retained the strong sense of was designated a general campus in 1960, a College service to the industry upon which the station was of Agriculture was established and new depart- founded. Says plant physiologist Charlie Coggins, ments in agronomy, agricultural engineering and who arrived at the station in 1957, “Good, practi- biostatistics were initiated to augment the station’s cal research was considered to be what we were existing departments. all about, and strong fundamental research was Experiment station scientists investigated new pes- expected as an underpinning to that applied re- ticides and earned a reputation for pioneering studies search.” Coggins’ work on growth regulators begin- on insect resistance to pesticides and the measurement ning in the 1960s dramatically extended California’s s the UC Riverside College of insecticide residues, methods that would become navel orange growing season. of Natural and Agricultural part of the federal evaluation for commercial pesticide Research at the CRC-AES broadened again in the Sciences developed the Core approval. The Citrus Clonal Protection Program was 1970s under W. Mack Dugger, incorporating such instrumentation Facility to founded, today serving as the only approved im- new scientifi c disciplines and techniques as mo- support research in genome biology. portation facility in the nation for citrus. lecular biology, IPM and genetics. Environmental

s protection and the challenges associated with ag- UC Riverside researchers riculture in arid and semiarid regions became new identifi ed a natural enemy to manage the silverleaf focus areas. New crops were developed, including whitefl y. turfgrass varieties with tolerance to soil salinity and air pollution. The campus also became a leader in plant tissue culture. At the three-quarter-century mark, the CRC- AES was led by deans Irwin Sherman, now professor emeritus of zoology, then Seymour D. Van Gundy, now professor emeritus of nematology. It was an era during which the still-new discipline of molecular biology was maturing, with IPM and biological control remaining robust areas of research. In one particularly dramatic case, the importation

178 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE • VOLUME 60, NUMBER 4 Far left, the late George Zentmyer was a world authority Left, Distinguished Professor on Phytophtora cinnamomi, a fungus affl icting avocados Natasha Raikhel, director of the and other tropical plants; inset, avocado thrips. Left, a Center for Plant Cell Biology, and student researcher at the UC Riverside experiment station. students. Above, turfgrass research. Above, an artist’s rendering of the $53.9 million Genomics Building, currently under construction.

and establishment of a tiny stingless wasp brought California’s population growth, leading to the ash whitefl y under control. This bothersome environmental problems associated with the Centennial pest not only caused millions of dollars in damage urban-wildland and urban-agriculture inter- celebration to agriculture, but it also despoiled cars parked faces, has prompted a renewed focus on natural under landscape trees with sticky excrement. It resource protection. UC Riverside’s Center for The UC Riverside was a case that brought Citrus Experiment Station Conservation Biology generates objective scien- Citrus Research Center and Agricultural research to bear on the urban community, bringing tifi c data to inform the development of public Experiment Station widespread media attention to the UC Riverside policy and restoration plans to preserve endan- will celebrate its 100th campus. gered species. The experiment station is also anniversary with a The last quarter-century has also seen the re- expanding its capabilities in environmental and symposium lease of several patented new varieties of citrus, natural resource economics. and banquet on starting with the ‘Oroblanco’ grapefruit in 1981 On the occasion of the centennial, the College of Feb. 14 and 15, 2007. and continuing with the recent release of the Natural and Agricultural Sciences — with guidance For more information, go to: ‘Tango’ mandarin. Likewise, development of the from the Chancellor’s Agricultural Advisory Council http://cnas.ucr.edu/ GeneChip Citrus Genome Array will help scien- and faculty — is undertaking a strategic planning news/special tists quickly examine genetic traits in citrus so process to chart its course for the next one. “We have _events.htm they can develop new varieties and tackle disease served the agricultural industry well for 100 years,” or contact and postharvest problems. Another breeding pro- says Executive Associate Dean Donald Cooksey. Carol Lerner, gram at UC Riverside has yielded cowpea lines “Now we need to determine how best to face the [email protected], (951) 827-5089. that are early-maturing and heat-tolerant, making next century. Are we well-positioned for the future?” them particularly well-suited to the drought con- In the near term, that future is expected to in- ditions of West Africa, helping to reduce hunger clude a continued emphasis on water science with and poverty there. pending formation of a Center for Water Quality Science and Policy to address problems that are Current research initiatives projected to become even more acute as demand by The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences urban and agricultural consumers increases. Pest has since undertaken a major initiative in genome management, especially as it relates to invasive spe- biology, begun under the leadership of former cies, is expected to remain among the priorities, as dean Michael T. Clegg and continuing today. UC is natural resources, in part through the college’s Riverside’s Institute for Genome Biology and participation in the campuswide Environmental Center for Plant Cell Biology, created to capitalize Research Institute. on the emerging genomics revolution and on exper- There will be no shortage of challenges and op- tise in the experiment station, is applying genomics portunities for California’s agricultural industry. to solve critical health and agriculture-related prob- “As our population increases rapidly, we will lems, such as malaria and abiotic stresses to plants. lose more of our land and water resources for ag- Associated with the institute is the Biotechnology riculture,” says Van Gundy, chair of the centennial Impacts Center, which serves as an “honest broker” celebration planning committee. “We are going to to identify the relevant policy issues related to the have to focus on more intensive agriculture and potential risks of genomic modifi cation, act as a new technologies to feed the world’s growing clearinghouse for credible information and initiate population and to help agriculture in California research that addresses its potential benefi ts and remain economically viable.” consequences. — Kathy Barton

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