GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Diversity in the workplace and a Florida vegetable gardening guide top the list of most popular University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension documents from 2017. UF/IFAS stakeholders visited the UF/IFAS Electronic Data Information Source (EDIS) website 7.4 million times in 2017.

Here is this year’s list of the top 10 publications from EDIS:

1. Supervisors need to recognize the ways in which the workplace is evolving, including diversity. Managerial skills must adapt to a more diverse workplace. Here are tips: http://bit.ly/2gOE7Uw. (132,434 visits)
2. Vegetable gardening offers fresh air, exercise, enjoyment, nutritious and fresh vegetables and economic benefits, among other advantages. Here is a guide to home vegetable gardening: http://bit.ly/2hgLzbV. (124,465)
3. Fowl Pox, Newcastle Disease and Quail Bronchitis are just some of the diseases that can afflict poultry. This guide gives tips on how to prevent or treat the conditions: http://bit.ly/2ganzHn (66,087)
4. Florida’s snakes play important roles in the environment, including helping regulate amphibians and rodents, which help spread human diseases. This document suggests a three-part approach for people in residential areas to co-exist with snakes: http://bit.ly/2h66sDM. (50,891)
5. About 50 species of snake live in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to North Carolina. They are predators and pretty and thus form important l inks in natural food webs. This document helps you identify black snakes: http://bit.ly/2hgK7Xf. (44,610)
6. St. Augustinegrass is dense and well adapted to Florida soils, but you’ve got to make sure you water it, according to this EDIS document: http://bit.ly/2gZIYQb. (43,539)
7. Zoysiagrass provides attractive turf throughout much of the U.S. Breeders have improved Zoysiagrass via improved insect resistance and overall performance. Here, learn how to maintain Zoysiagrass on your Florida lawn: http://bit.ly/2zSwYsV. (43,258)
8. When you clean and sanitize in processing food, you need to prevent bacteria growth. Here’s how: http://bit.ly/2hitCpe. (40,709)
9. You want to grow avocados in your yard? Follow these steps: http://bit.ly/1BzxFUf. (39,669)
10. Bahiagrass was originally a pasture grass on the sandy soils of the U.S. Read here to find out how to maintain Bahiagrass on your Florida lawn: http://bit.ly/2gOaaUy (38,464)

EDIS, a free service of UF/IFAS Extension, provides information on topics relevant to you: profitable and sustainable agriculture, the environment and natural resources, 4-H and other youth programs, Florida-friendly landscapes, communities that are vibrant and prosperous, economic well-being and quality of life for people and families. UF/IFAS Extension faculty statewide write the documents for EDIS.

“EDIS is a longstanding public-service tradition of UF/IFAS Extension in which we use an electronic system to disseminate top-notch, science-based research to our many stakeholders,” said Nick Place, dean for UF/IFAS Extension. “We hope people continue to go to the website and read this critical information that provides solutions for their lives.”

That website is edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

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By: Brad Buck, 352-294-3303, bradbuck@ufl.edu

The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS works to bring science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents. Visit the UF/IFAS web site at ifas.ufl.edu and follow us on social media at @UF_IFAS.

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