University of Florida Receives 4 out of 7 Grants by the USDA

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ted S. Yoho (R-FL-03), member of the House Committee on Agriculture, was pleased to hear that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $30 million dollars will be allocated across 22 projects combat Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening.

Citrus greening is a serious disease that threatens Florida citrus growers and U.S. citrus production as a whole. The Florida citrus industry adds roughly $9 billion dollars to the state economy and employs almost 76,000 people. Upon hearing the news, Congressman Yoho gave the following statement:

“Florida citrus farmers are a vital part of our Florida Ag community. I am pleased to hear Secretary Vilsack is committing resources to the University of Florida – a land grant school - to study the effects of citrus greening. These grants are important to promote and find a cure to this disease which threatens our citrus farmer’s way of life and a large portion of our ag economy."

-USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has allocated more than $23 million dollars for research and education projects to find lasting solutions to citrus greening disease. Examples of funded projects include developing HLB-resistant citrus cultivars, the development of field detection system for HLB, using heat as a treatment for prolonging productivity in infected citrus trees, creating a new antimicrobial treatment, among others. Fiscal year 2014 grants have been awarded to:

•        University of California, Davis, Calif., $4,579,067

•        University of California, Riverside, Calif., $1,683,429

•        University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., $4,613,838

•        University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., $3,495,832

•        University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., $3,338,248

•        University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., $2,096,540

•        Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., $3,734,480