Citrus Research and Education Center - Central Florida Ag News

Citrus industry’s clock is ticking; researchers working to find a solution in time

FLORIDA’S CITRUS INDUSTRY has suffered significant losses due to citrus greening since the bacteria was detected in a South Florida grove in 2005. Annual harvest numbers have fallen year after year while the costs to maintain a grove in the face of HLB has doubled. The question has long been, “How long can the citrus […]

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Citrus greening putting ag research on display

CITRUS GREENING IS A SCOURGE on the Florida citrus industry, but it highlights the value of ag tech, science, and innovation in an amazing way. So many are working on the issue, and the ingenuity of those in agriculture is on full display. Below are some of the research efforts in the works right now.

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Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference showcases renewed optimism

WHILE GREAT CHALLENGES continue to beset the Florida citrus industry, a greater sense of optimism could be found among the growers and state officials who attended the 2016 Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference in Bonita Springs last month.

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Is the quest for a remedy to citrus greening near completion?

Two CREC professors map out how certain varieties could hold the key to more HLB-tolerant citrus trees FOR THOSE IN THE FLORIDA citrus industry, some say it’s the 11th hour. Citrus harvests are down 70 percent and a survey revealed an 80 percent rate of tree infection throughout Florida. However, the quest to find a

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Taking a teamwork approach to science

UF/IFAS rebuilding research ranks with new funding POLK, HILLSBOROUGH and surrounding Florida farmers and natural resource managers are about to reap a huge brain gain. In its recently passed budget, the state Legislature provided enough money to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to hire more than 45 new faculty members.

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PCFB President’s Column: It’s membership recruitment time

AUGUST is membership recruitment month! I hope that current members will encourage others to join, and if you are not a member — you should be! Everyone involved in and around agriculture should become a part of this local grassroots organization that protects and promotes the agriculture industry in Polk County. Florida Farm Bureau has

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New study shows how HLB bacterium changes bug behavior patterns

Citrus greening promotes its own spread, according to researchers SOMETIMES, Mother Nature is just not very nice to the agriculture industry, as a recent study by University of Florida researchers stands to confirm. Citrus greening, according to the five researchers involved, has a built-in, bug-driven method of spreading itself far and wide — making it

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Windbreaks embraced for limiting crop damage, disease

Spring is upon us and, with it, more persistent winds that spread disease in the fields. It’s time to reconsider the benefits of windbreaks, or trees and shrubs used to limit crop damage from the wind. [emember_protected custom_msg=”Click here and register now to read the rest of the article!”] On the plus side, windbreaks have

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HLB Report: Attacking the Problem on Three Fronts

Scientists Get Creative to Come up with Manageable Solutions to Citrus Disease There’s no cure yet for citrus greening, or Huanglongbing (HLB), but researchers are learning a lot more about managing the disease spread by the Asian psyllid. “We really don’t have a solution as of yet. We have some great management tools,” says Dr.

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The PCFB President’s Column

The “Annual Youth in Ag” edition is one that I look forward to reading each year. There is something invigorating about hearing how our youth are continuing ag traditions while expanding existing ag programs and studying new innovative technologies with the same pioneering spirit that we see so often in our industry. I enjoy reading

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