The Georgia Watermelon Association is making plans for its annual meeting and Watermelon Queen Contest, which will be held Jan. 29 to Feb. 1 at the Lake Blackshear Resort & Golf Club in Cordele, GA. The event offers exhibits, networking, recreational opportunities and educational sessions designed to bring the most up-to-date and relevant information to the watermelon industry. The meeting offers several informative educational sessions for watermelon production. Topics covered at this year's meeting will include Watermelon Fertilizer Study Results, Disease & Fumigation Update, and Handling

Though his family's roots in produce run deep, Luc Charbonneau got his start in produce the old-fashioned way: selling bananas from the back of his car. Mr. Charbonneau's great-grandfather Elie, a farmer, started selling his produce at Montreal's original central market, the Marche Bonsecours, in the early 1900s. His four children, including Luc's grandfather Elie, took over that business, Charbonneau & Sons, but Luc Charbonneau later decided to strike out on his own selling produce on Montreal's south shore. His father, Jean- Pierre, continued running that business until 1992. In 1993, Luc

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama should move fast to name a U.S. Food & Drug Administration commissioner if the administration "hopes to hit the ground running" on key issues, such as tightening import regulation, according to a Nov. 24 letter to Mr. Obama's transition team from the Alliance for a Stronger FDA, an umbrella group of 180 consumer, industry and health organizations advocating more money for FDA. "During the last eight years, a confirmed FDA commissioner was at the helm less than half the time," the letter stated. "Since 1990, the transition period between confirmed

DILLSBURG, PA -- Retailers are proud of the displays that were featured in their produce departments during the fall months of September, October and November, and National Apple Month wants to see the results of each retailer's efforts. National Apple Month announced the first week of December its final call for entries for the 2008 fall display contests in retail supermarkets and military commissaries. More than 50 winners will be named in the contest with awards ranging from $25 to $1,000 in cash prizes or charitable donations. Retailers must submit a completed entry form and a photograph

Dave Roberts of DCR Co. in Visalia, CA, has been elected the new chairman of California Citrus Mutual's board of directors, a statewide citrus producer's trade association based in Exeter, CA, that represents more than 200,000 acres of citrus farms in California. California Citrus Mutual held its 31st annual meeting the week of Nov. 3 in Visalia, where changes and additions to its board were announced. Mr. Roberts is a second-generation family farmer who grows Navel and Valencia oranges and who, along with his brother, manages a trucking firm that hauls fruit from the grove to the packinghouse

As of Tuesday, Dec. 2, the California Department of Food & Agriculture had established a 107-square-mile quarantine zone in the El Cajon area of San Diego County following the detection of a Mediterranean fruit fly infestation. As of Wednesday, Dec. 3, 18 wild adult Medflies had been detected at 12 sites in the area, and Medfly larvae had been detected at two sites. In addition to the challenge of combating the Medfly population, San Diego County also is battling Asian citrus psyllid and Diaprepes root weevils that pose a serious threat to agriculture. The Medfly can infest more than 260 types