Gene Albrigo
Gene Albrigo, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences emeritus professor, reflects on the research that earned him a spot in the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame on March 9.
“I tried to develop a program based on industry needs that I had some expertise to address, and working with people in the industry tried to solve some of these problems and provide some information that growers could use in order to have more productive groves,” Albrigo says.
Albrigo, who has worked at the Citrus Research and Education Center just shy of 50 years, is well known for devising citrus bloom advisory reports. “That’s the major carryover from my program that’s still active and that we’re still trying to add information to,” he says. “I’ve had several growers over the last two weeks comment to me at meetings that, again, the online program appears to be predicting the bloom dates and sequence of flowering cohorts in a manner that’s fitting with what they’re seeing.”
Although he officially retired several years ago, Albrigo still drives from his home in Daytona Beach to spend two days a week on projects at Lake Alfred’s Citrus Research and Education Center. “We have an active research program trying to fit the bloom model with the associated vegetative flush to (determine) better timing for psyllid control,” he says.
Albrigo was inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame along with veteran Sebring citrus grower Marvin Kahn. Albrigo says the appreciation shown at the induction ceremony “might keep both of us going for a little while longer.”
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