Campus crops mirror of Valley

By Jackie Womack
The Collegian

Fresno State’s farm grows almost everything that might wind up on your dinner table.

“Our goal is go from plot to plate -— meaning from the field all the way up to the consumer,” said Ganesan Srinivasan, director of the University Agricultural Laboratory.

The variety of crops grown, including vegetables and nuts could supply a full meal.

The main purpose of the farm is to teach students how to cultivate different types of crops, Ganesan said. “So what we wanted to do was have a sample — a kind of a crop cafeteria where we can have every different crop that is grown in the Valley,” he said.

Srinivasan said that of the 1053 acres that encompass the farm, about 800 are used for growing various crops.

“This is another big selling point of Fresno State, having a teaching farm right in the middle of the city next to campus,” he said.

Because the farm is in the city, every effort is made to be “a good neighbor” and to not, for instance, raise too much dust, Srinivasan said.

Most colleges that have farm operations have them away from the main campus, often as far as an hour’s drive away, according to Srinivasan.

“Any produce that comes out of the farm is sold on the market,” he said. “Our main retail outlet on campus is the Farm Market.”

The market sells only products that have been grown or made at Fresno State and is a favorite destination for certain groups, according to Matt Trexler, an agricultural business major who works at the Farm Market.

“A lot of our customers are either parents or alumni and there’s a sense of pride that the farm’s so close,” he said.

The customers can be dedicated, according to Karin Bridgeford, a senior who also works at the market.

“People will wait for what they want from us,” she said. “They’re very understanding.”

The market has waiting lists for many processed foods and products, according to Bridgeford.

One popular product is sweet corn, Srinivasan said. The farm plans to plant more of it next year because they couldn’t keep up with demand.

According to Bridgeford, Fresno State wines are also very popular.

Robert Wample, chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology, said that grapes are an important crop.

“Because grapes represent one of California’s highest-value farm crops, we are constantly looking for better and more efficient production practices,” he said. “We are planning to add some new cultivars to our vineyards. We recently planted primativo and petite syrah grapes for our winery.”

And though it isn’t commercial farm, the Fresno State farm does earn revenues: in 2005-06, the revenues were $4 million. This amount includes all the crops and livestock, Srinivasan said.

The farm had a surplus of about $183,000, which was invested back into the farm, Srinivasan said.

“There’s a lot of investment needed to put these crops in the ground,” he said.

Some crops, like pistachios, take years to yield a harvest.

One expense is hiring workers for harvesting, which has to be contracted for and which is getting more difficult to obtain.

“We are moving more and more into mechanization,” Srinivasan said.

The farm is also enriched by students participation.

“We have an active involvement of students on the farm — close to 150 students either work or volunteer on the farm during the year,” Srinivasan said.

He said that one way students get involved with the farm is through projects.

Lisa Ratto, an agriculture education major who used to work at the Farm Market, is currently involved in a cotton-growing project for independent study, which she began in June.

“I really love that I’ve been able to go out and work on the farm,” she said.

The cotton will be harvested sometime during the next three weeks.

“At the end, I’ll probably write a paper and make a poster for the California Plant and Soil Conference,” she said.

Ratto is working with Bruce Roberts, a professor of plant science, on her project.

Roberts said there are other ways that the farm adds to the community.

“If you watch the fields this time of year, you can see geese feeding on field grains,” he said. “There are foxes, hawks and gophers and whole ecosystems that have adapted to [the farm]. We provide a green belt for the northwest part of the campus.”

Comment on this story in the Features forum >>