Citrus greening has devastated millions of acres of Florida’s crops throughout the years. Infected trees can destroy crops and damage your bottom line. The United States Department of Agriculture is actively combating the problem. On February 8, they awarded $20.1 million dollars in grants to university researchers for research and extension projects to help citrus producers fight citrus greening disease.
US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack remarked, “The research and extension projects funded today bring us one step closer to providing growers real tools to fight this disease.”
Research will explore how to improve crop characteristics through plant breeding, genetics, and genomics; address threats from pests; improve your profitability; and develop new technology to improve crop safety.
This grant will help citrus growers all over Florida:
- Manage existing citrus greening
- Eliminate other infections from existing citrus trees
- Detect citrus greening before symptoms appear
- Create citrus rootstocks that are immune to citrus greening
Overall, we at Griffin Fertilizer believe that this grant is going to help fight a disease that has threatened so much of Florida’s agriculture and will assist in the overall quality of rural lands in Florida. Read the full news report here.
We’re committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their land. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection products distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture.
For questions or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.