RAIN A MIXED BAG FOR GROWERS; WET SPRING HELPS CITRUS, THREATENS STRAWBERRIES WITH MILDEW.Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer The wet April weather has been a blessing and a curse for Ventura County, bringing enough rain to help irrigate ir·ri·gate v. To wash out a cavity or wound with a fluid. citrus groves and moisten hillsides but bringing the threat of mildew mildew, name for certain fungi and protists, for the diseases they cause in various crops, and for the discoloration (and sometimes the weakening and disintegration) they cause in such materials as leather, fabrics, and paper. to strawberry crops. After a warm, dry winter, the off-and-on showers have brought much-needed rain to an area that depends on cloudbursts to keep irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. costs down and the grassy hillsides green. ``The cattle people liked it,'' Terry Schaeffer, an agricultural meteorologist said Monday. ``And the citrus and avocado avocado (ä`vəkä`do, ăv`–), tropical American broad-leaved evergreen tree of the genus Persea of the family Lauraceae (laurel family). people are happy. This means they won't have to irrigate for about five weeks. ``Farmers don't want to irrigate if they don't have to. Irrigating costs money. On the other hand, it could disrupt some of our field crops. We have such a varied kind of agriculture in Ventura County that no matter what the weather is, it's bothering somebody.'' He said those primarily affected by the recent cold and rainy weather are farmers who plant row crops, such as strawberries. The rain, Schaeffer said, causes mildew on the berries and wreaks havoc with cultivation. Schaeffer said the county on the whole is about 31 inches behind the rainfall totals from last year, when El Nino was dropping record amounts of precipitation precipitation, in chemistry precipitation, in chemistry, a process in which a solid is separated from a suspension, sol, or solution. In a suspension such as sand in water the solid spontaneously precipitates (settles out) on standing. . He said that normally areas like Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. get about 20-1/2 inches of rain, and the coastal and inland portions of the county get about 17 inches. With the recent storms, the totals are slowing rising to about 60 percent of normal rates. Those also welcoming the rain are officials with the Ventura County Fire Department Not to be confused with Ventura Fire Department. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) provides fire protection and emergency response services for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, and for six other cities within the county. , who expected to have to call an early opening to the fire season this year. ``Up until about two weeks ago, we were looking at being devastatingly dry because we didn't have any rain,'' said Sandi Wells, a Fire Department spokeswoman. ``Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. and Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. received an inch and a half, so that could make a difference.'' She said the lack of rain this winter created conditions that were similar to those found in the October fire season, after a long, dry summer. But for now, officials are expecting fire season to open as usual on May 15. Still, while the rain has helped matters and replenished the dry brush, Wells cautioned that circumstances can change again if the winds kick up and there is no more rain. Schaeffer said the county can expect to see a warming, drying trend beginning today, with temperatures from the low to mid-80s on Wednesday and Thursday, then dropping slightly on Friday. He said there is no rain in sight for at least 10 days. Wells said a 90-day weather forecast issued by the state to local fire officials also indicates that the county is to have temperatures above normal and rain at normal levels. ``What the forecast means is it could do what it's been doing the last couple of weeks, drying out and having quite a bit of rain and drying out again,'' she said. ``Momentarily it looks better, but we're working day to day, week to week.'' |
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