In the Central Valley, farmers are investing in avocados, which are traditionally planted farther south, and agave, a drought-resistant succulent grown in Mexico to make tequila. Hustling to adapt, farmers around the state are experimenting with new, more sustainable crops and varieties bred to better tolerate drought, heat, humidity and other elements of the increasingly unruly climate. Mangoes may never become a mainstream crop in the northern half of California, but change is undoubtedly coming. “People almost never talk about the positives of global warming, but there will be winners and losers everywhere.” “Climate change isn’t all bad,” Gragg said. Northern California’s climate, he said, is becoming increasingly suitable for heat-loving, frost-sensitive mango trees, as well as avocados, cherimoyas and tropical palms, a specialty of his plant nursery Golden Gate Palms. Gragg’s little orchard might be the continent’s northernmost grove of mangoes, which normally are grown in places like Florida, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. “I’ve been banking on this since I was 10 years old and first heard about global warming,” said Gragg, 54, who has planted several mango trees, among other subtropical trees, in his orchard about 25 miles west of Sacramento. In a world of worsening heatwaves, flooding, drought, glacial melting, megafires and other calamities of a changing climate, Gary Gragg is an optimist.Īs California warms, Gragg - a nurseryman, micro-scale farmer and tropical fruit enthusiast - looks forward to the day that he can grow and sell mangoes in Northern California. “We’re adjusting for survival,” one grower said. The future of farming in California is changing as the planet warms, altering the rain and heat patterns that guide which crops are grown where.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |