Officials, citrus scientists, growers and other stakeholders will gather at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in Lake Alfred this Wednesday, November 29, for the 100th anniversary of the CREC. Dr. Jack Payne, University of Florida senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources, is looking forward to the big event.
Speakers will include:
- Kent Fuchs, UF president
- Jack Payne, UF senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources
- Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS CREC
- Fred Gmitter, UF/IFAS professor of horticultural sciences
Dignitaries, faculty, producers and others will celebrate a 100-year partnership between science and the citrus industry. The research center focuses on citrus, making it the only UF/IFAS research facility that focuses on one type of crop.
Gmitter, the keynote speaker, will trace the genetics of citrus breeding back millions of years.
In the afternoon, UF/IFAS researchers from food science and human nutrition, plant pathology, soil and water sciences, horticultural sciences, microbiology and cell science and entomology will show the public how they work together to help growers produce as much fruit and citrus juice as possible and how to keep the fruit and juice safe.
The event will take place at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, 700 Experiment Station Road, Lake Alfred, Florida. For more information, click here: https://crec100years.eventbrite.com.