The USDA has announced up to $11 million for citrus greening funding; explore UF’s citrus greening research that will benefit from the funds.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced funding up to $11 million for research into fighting citrus greening. “NIFA’s Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension program brings the nation’s top scientists together with citrus industry representatives to find scientifically sound solutions to combat and prevent HLB at the farm-level,” said NIFA Director Carrie Castille, in a Growing Produce article. See UF’s citrus greening research that will utilize the funds below.

UF’s Citrus Greening Research

UF joins Texas A&M and the University of California in receiving funds from the USDA. UF’s citrus greening research that will be using the funds are:

  • Seeking “to develop a bacterial pathogen transmission blocking strategy (specifically to block CandidatusLiberibacter asiaticus, the pathogen that causes HLB) toward mitigation of HLB-related losses in an integrated pest management framework. This project is funded for approximately $1 million.”
  • Supporting “the needs of both commercial and residential citrus growers by comparing new tools to support young trees and develop management recommendations for the incorporation of each tool into production and residential settings. This is a $750,000 project.”
  • Aiming “to introduce and transfer the natural HLB resistance present in Australian limes into conventional citrus to produce HLB-resistant Australian lime hybrid rootstocks and deploy these hybrids to protect susceptible citrus scions against HLB. This project is funded for $500,000.”

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