RIPON, Calif., Sept. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Almond
Alliance of California reports new
research from Eastern Kentucky
University researcher Dr. Kelly
Watson involving almond acreage growth trends was presented
at the Geological Society of America's (GSA) annual conference this
week and is being called into question by the California almond community and the Almond
Board of California which
published this release yesterday:
http://newsroom.almonds.com/content/almond-board-highlights-eastern-kentucky-university-almond-analysis-inaccuracies
The poster, "Monitoring Change in Agricultural Land and Water
Usage in California's Central
Valley Using Geospatial Techniques," and associated research have
been reported by some media outlets despite the fact that it has
not been made publicly available, is unpublished and is yet to be
peer-reviewed. The Almond Alliance of California is concerned that the researcher
hasn't responded to repeated requests from members of the almond
industry for data sources, methodology and fact-checking steps.
While the poster presented at this week's GSA conference remains
unavailable, an earlier version of the poster "Monitoring Change in
Agricultural Land and Water Usage in California's Central Valley" from this spring
is available online on the Eastern Kentucky
University website and contains several distinct
inaccuracies and areas of concern, which include:
- A description of the project's methodology indicates that it
relied on "multispectral data NAIP imagery from 2007 and 2014" to
delineate almonds and other crops. National Agricultural Imaging
Program (NAIP) aerial imagery for California in 2007 does not exist.
- The maps on the poster denoting where almonds are grown in
California indicate significant
plantings located in places like Salinas Valley and Napa Valley. Widely available annual almond
acreage reports published by the USDA-National Agricultural
Statistics Service indicate that almonds are not grown in those
regions. It is also visually apparent to residents and visitors
that almonds are not grown in these regions.
- The results narrative of the poster states that "between 2007
and 2014, 650 thousand acres were converted to almonds in
California's Central Valley."
However, annual almond acreage reports for those same years
indicate 280,000 acres of growth, nearly 2.5 times less than the
researchers found.
The concerns summarized here suggest that this research has not
been confirmed with on-the-ground verification and is perpetuating
inaccuracies about the almond industry. Representatives of the
California almond community look
forward to reviewing this research and dialoging with the
researchers to better understand their data sources, methodology,
and validation steps in order to ensure the highest level of
accuracy in research related to almonds.
Carissa Sauer
CSauer@AlmondAlliance.org
209-613-1262
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visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/criticism-of-almond-industry-fueled-by-unavailable-unpublished-poster-300337571.html
SOURCE Almond Alliance of California