More than $31 million in funding for research and Cooperative Extension Service projects to fight citrus greening disease is being released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Most of the funding for the research comes from the 2014 Farm Bill passed by Congress this past spring, with an additional $6.5 million coming from the USDA budget, officials said.
It’s spearheaded for research to combat huanglongbing, commonly known as citrus greening disease. HLB is a pathogen that is transmitted by insects that causes fruit to yellow and become bitter.
Although it was first recognized in the 1920s, HLB wasn’t found in Florida until the late 1990s, according to published reports.
“USDA is committed to the fight against citrus greening, including making major research investments to counter this destructive disease,” said USDA secretary Tom Vilsack, in a release. “The citrus industry and the thousands of jobs it supports are depending on groundbreaking research to neutralize this threat.”
Because there are wide differences in the occurrence and progression of HLB among the states, there are regional as well as national priorities for the Citrus Disease Research and Education Program, which will disperse research funds. Projects that are multistate, multi-institutional or trans-disciplinary will be considered first, officials said.
Along with the research, the USDA’s HLB Multi-Agency Coordination Group said it was funding three new projects to combat citrus greening.
The first will commit $2 million to field test antimicrobials that have shown promise in combating HLB in laboratory and greenhouse studies.
The second, also funded up to $2 million, will support the deployment of large-scale thermotherapy, since studies have shown heating a tree to 120 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 48 hours can kill the HLB bacterium in the upper tree. That allows the tree to regain productivity, officials said.
A third project will use $2.5 million to establish several model groves in cooperation with Florida Citrus Health Management Areas that would include systematic surveys, timely chemical treatments, new planting strategies, and the removal of dead and abandoned groves.
