Business
USDA announces federal funds to combat citrus greening
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday announced $13.6 million in federal funds to combat citrus greening, a deadly bacterial disease that is crippling one of Florida’s most iconic industries.
The funding was made possible by the Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program, which U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, fought to include in the 2014 farm bill.
“Finding a cure for this destructive disease is vital to maintaining a strong economy and protecting jobs here in southwest Florida,” Buchanan said.
The citrus greening grant research awardees:
▪ Clemson University – $4.2 million to study citrus greening resistant plants.
▪ University of California, Riverside – $5.1 million to develop a cure for citrus greening.
▪ Iowa State University – $2.4 million to study toxins that attack citrus greening.
▪ USDA Agricultural Research Service in Athens, Ga. – $1.8 million to study chemotherapy for citrus greening.
“This research funding will help protect the livelihoods of the 62,000 hardworking Floridians in the citrus industry,” Buchanan said. “Our country’s top researchers are moving closer to finding a cure for this disease.”
In 2014, Buchanan led bipartisan efforts in Congress to secure $125 million to combat citrus greening as part of the five-year farm bill that President Obama later signed into law. The legislation also authorized the disbursement of up to $125 million in discretionary funding over five years to combat this disease.
Since arriving in Florida nearly a decade ago, citrus greening spread to all of Florida’s 32 citrus-growing counties within two years. The bacterial disease infects and later kills trees that produce green, misshapen and bitter fruit. There is no known cure. Experts projected a 26 percent decline in Florida’s orange crop for the 2016-2017 season – the worst in more than 50 years.
Citrus greening has caused more than $4 billion in economic damage while eliminating 8,000 jobs, according to a study done four years ago by the University of Florida. Florida Citrus Mutual, a citrus trade association, estimates that those numbers have doubled in the past four years.
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