The State - News from Aug. 20, 1986

Air pollution is reducing the yield of cotton, Thompson seedless grapes and other crops in the San Joaquin Valley by as much as 20%, leading smog researchers and government regulators said at a seminar in Fresno. John Holmes, research director for the California Air Resources Board, said the way to stop such losses is to find ways to “live lightly on the land” by cleaning up industrial pollution in the region. Holmes said that ozone, the principal pollutant, has exceeded acceptable levels in the San Joaquin Valley for many years. Efforts to clean up the air with restrictions on automobile emissions alone have not been enough, Holmes said.