The Lindcove Research and Extension Center was established in 1959 by San Joaquin Valley growers and the University of California, Riverside, to provide a research environment typical of the central California. The center's soils and climate are representative of the 190,000 acres of commercial citrus planted in California's Central Valley. The ideal climate and soils and the relative absence of tristeza, a serious virus disease of citrus, are advantageous for the research and evaluation of citrus scions, rootstocks, and management strategies.
The station consists of 175 acres located at the 500-foot elevation next to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The climate is Mediterranean with mild winters and hot, dry summers (May-September), with temperature extremes from the low 20's to 115oF. Usual annual precipitation is 13" with prolonged tule fog episodes during December and January. Continuous recording of weather information has been maintained since 1962. San Joaquin sandy loam is the dominant soil type.
Research Programs
The center's greenhouses, orchards and packline are used by researchers for a variety of studies including developing new citrus rootstocks and scions, evaluating the effects of the local environment on rootstock and scion combinations, screening seeless varieties of mandarins, methods for minimizing freeze damage of fruit, and chemical treatments for pests and post harvest diseases. Center resources are available to researchers affiliated with University of California's Agriculture and Natural Resources, USDA, and agency cooperators. Requests for land, labor, and facilities are screened and allocated by a research advisory committee. Currently, 27 active research projects involve researchers from the Riverside, Davis, and Berkeley campuses, UC Cooperative Extension Specialists, and Farm Advisors.
CCPP
The center maintains the Citrus Clonal Protection Program's (CCPP) foundation budwood orchard for virus-free true-to-type citrus. More than 100 different selections of citrus are in this collection, and budwood is available to California nurserymen and growers at a minimal cost. The majority of these varieties are now maintained in a screenhouse to further protect them from insect vectored diseases.
Packline
In 1995 the California citrus industry, through the California Citrus Quality Council, donated a complete citrus packing line to the Lindcove Research and Extension Center. This 5,000-square-foot facility has available for research an FMC high-pressure scale washer, Brogdex waxing and drying equipment, and a Sunkist CAB fruit-grading unit that can measure number, size and grade of fruit. This state-of-the-art equipment allows analysis of fruit from individual trees.
Fruit Quality Evaluation Center
The LREC fruit quality laboratory can perform a large variety of tests including sugar/acid ratio, peel thickness, % juice and other parameters.
Center staff consists of 11 permanent employees. Four departmental staff employees are housed on-site. Facilities include an office building, a conference building with a kitchen seating up to 70, station-managed greenhouse facilities totaling 2,250 square feet, a screenhouse, a packline, a Fruit Quality Evaluation Center, a repair shop; storage buildings; and a small laboratory. The center also has one residence and a dormitory.