Finger limes will be the topic of a March 23 virtual symposium sponsored by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Citrus Research and Education Center (UF/IFAS CREC).
Finger limes are a unique citrus variety gaining interest among chefs, foodies and citrus growers.
The symposium, targeted to commercial citrus and specialty crop growers and marketers, will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. There is no fee for the informational event, but registration is required and may be completed here.
Manjul Dutt, a citrus researcher at UF/IFAS CREC, is hosting the event, which features scientists from the University of Florida; the University of California, Riverside (UCR); the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Australia.
The finger lime is widely grown in Australia. Florida citrus growers are interested in the varieties for their tolerance to citrus greening and their unique fruit quality.
Topics to be covered during the event include the development of new finger lime cultivars, an overview of the global finger lime market, UF/IFAS’ connection to Australian researchers and the market potential for Floridian finger limes.
“This is a great opportunity for Florida citrus and specialty crop growers to be introduced to finger limes as a potential option in their grove variety mix,” said Dutt.
Dutt has funding from the UF SEEDIT program, the Florida Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to explore the possibility of utilizing finger limes and their hybrids to develop a finger lime industry segment in Florida.
In 2020, Dutt and fellow UF/IFAS CREC researcher Jude Grosser wrote a Citrus Industry article on lessons learned about growing finger limes in Florida.
Source: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
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