The department of plant pathology of Washington State University in Pullman, WA, will be awarded a $1 million grant to participate in a national project that will study onion productivity and profitability. "The long-term goals of the project are to develop, fully deploy and evaluate a sustainable on-line information-management platform called Onion ipmPIPE -- Pest Information Platform for Extension & Education -- to integrate innovative diagnostic tools and optimize sound pest management decision-making in specialty crops such as onions," the university said in a prepared statement. "The

Sun World International recently put the finishing touches on a building refresh project that it said will both capture the eye of road travelers on Highway 99 and promote the variety of produce items grown in Kern County, where the firm's Bakersfield, CA, headquarters are located. Sun World has turned the east-facing wall of its production facility on Driver Road into what is likely one of the larger ad campaigns in the county. The company has installed nine extra-large banners featuring the "Sun World" logo and appetizing images of grapes, citrus, peppers and plums. The canvas containing the

On June 18, Fort Pierce, FL-based DNE World Fruit Sales' first 2010 shipment of Australian citrus arrived at the port of Long Beach, CA, carrying some pleasant surprises. A heat wave after the Australian trees blossomed caused a bloom drop, and subsequent heavy rains resulted in huge, sweet fruit and a "surprisingly pretty strong crop," Stu Monaghan, national sales manager for DNE, told The Produce News June 28. Last year's Australian citrus was sweet and plentiful, but the fruit was small. This year's fruit is so large -- Navels and tangerines are running "one to two sizes larger" than usual

Wendy Brannen suspected she might have a hit on her hands with the Vidalia onion industry's latest promotional effort: An unlikely pairing of sweet Georgia onions and one of Hollywood’s most iconic figures, the animated ogre Shrek. The campaign -- "Ogres and Onions" -- rolled out in May along with the premiere of the fourth Shrek movie, "Shrek Forever After," and it has been an unqualified smash. Shrek-logoed Vidalia onions are flying off store shelves; consumers are responding to contests and a Shrek-Vidalia onion web site (www.vidaliaonion.org) by the thousands; and the campaign has been

Two antitrust cases have been filed against the United Potato Growers of America and others, but a spokesperson for United has termed the allegations "unfounded." "Two antitrust cases have been filed against United Potato Growers of America and 23 other entities. The complaints allege that United and its members do not qualify for the limited antitrust protection accorded cooperatives by the Capper-Volstead Act," Barb Shelley, chief communications officer for UPGA, said in a written statement June 29. "The allegations are unfounded," Ms. Shelley continued in the statement. "We are careful and

When a member of Sam's Club enters one of the chain's more than 600 stores, he or she can go directly to a kiosk located at the front of the store, swipe a membership card and print out a handful of specially designed coupons. Kristy Reed, manager of corporate communications for the nation's second- largest clubstore operation behind Costco, said that the coupons are individualized to the specific shopper based on his or her shopping history. Ms. Reed said that the data from each shopper are used to create a profile, which is then analyzed via the computer, and the shopper is presented with