The funding was made available through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program, which was appropriated by the $125 million dollars allocated from the 2014 Farm Bill and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The $22 million dollars will be used for a variety of citrus greening-related channels, including bringing together scientists from around the country to undergo a peer-review process in hopes of finding a solution to the HLB disease.
At the head of the battle is the USDA’s Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC) Group, which has successfully helped in the funding of many of the new technologies that growers are using to fight citrus greening. Thermotherapy and soil acidification are just two of the many tactics that the HLB MAC Group has overseen.
According to the USDA, The HLB MAC Group seeks to jointly collaborate on policy decisions, establish priorities, allocate critical resources and more quickly provide practical tools for citrus growers to use.
Harold Browning, chief operations officer of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation, speaks about the third installment of the $22 million dollars and how it is going to be dispersed to battle citrus greening.
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