With 2024 in the rear view mirror, we asked leaders of key citrus organizations what their priorities are for this year. Here’s what they had to say.
TREE OF THE FUTURE
“For the last 2.5 years, our research strategy at the Citrus Research and Development Foundation has been to kill the bacteria that causes HLB — Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) — as well as we can, as efficiently as we can, for as long as it takes to develop the ‘tree of the future’ resistant or highly tolerant to HLB to bail us out once and for all.
“In 2024, this meant that we funded projects that maximize the efficacy of oxytetracycline (OTC) trunk injections and finding substitutes for OTC if that should become necessary. We also have been funding validation of trees already created through conventional breeding, and funding projects that search for genes that can be silenced or over-expressed to make HLB just an aggravation to growers, not an existential threat.
“For 2025, we will focus on getting several molecules or compounds approved by regulators. Also, we will be assisting Silvec Biologics in its quest to receive regulatory approval of using spinach defensin proteins to fight HLB. These proteins will be carried into the tree by the citrus tristeza virus.
“We have an additional field trial for conventionally bred germplasm in mind, as well as further testing of the efficacy of combining OTC with streptomycin to determine if it kills nearly all CLas in a tree, which an earlier scientific paper reported. We have also begun talking to potential registrants of such a formulation if we learn that it works as well as we suspect it will.”
Rick Dantzler, chief operating officer, Citrus Research and Development Foundation
Michael Rogers discusses Citrus Research and Education Center priorities.
TRANSFORMING CITRUS
“The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Crop Transformation Center is organized to implement procedures used in industry to create solutions for citrus growers. A year ago, the center was an idea. Today, it is a reality. We put the industry’s investment in motion and addressed the community’s needs for gene transformation to adhere to growers’, scientists’, industry and administrators’ criteria to harness all technologies available to fight HLB.
“We are building capacity by hiring faculty and staff to execute the vision. We brought the best leaders in science and industry to advise the center and have growers represented on our advisory board, like Matt Joyner, the leader of Florida Citrus Mutual.
“We organized the gene pipeline and initiated transformations to create new varieties. We are working on procedures to connect research occurring in individual laboratories into the pipeline to work more collaboratively, and in turn, more effectively.
“We will focus on shortening the time it takes to develop a variety or technologies that will help growers combat HLB. We will investigate administrative and evaluation processes and new technologies to reduce the time to a solution under the current 5-year timeframe. We will strengthen the partnership with UF/IFAS Research and Education Centers, particularly the Citrus Research and Education Center, to form a more cohesive team culture.
“We hear you that time is of the essence. We are working diligently and focused on finding a solution by examining every possible technology. We are working with UF/IFAS to communicate more frequently and directly to share our outputs and timelines. We are creating a brochure to illustrate our latest technology pipeline with expected timelines for the delivery of gene-edited and transgenic trees.”
Charlie Messina, director of the UF/IFAS Crop Transformation Center
FOCUSED ON REHABILITATION
“In the coming year, we know the crop will be down thanks to Hurricane Milton. However, we’re optimistic that the improved tree health we’re seeing because of the therapies that we’ve been able to deploy over the past two years will continue to allow us to recover quicker and more effectively.
“We’re also very optimistic that there will be substantial support for Florida citrus in Tallahassee from our Legislature, which will allow us to continue rehabilitating and replanting groves through the CRAFT (Citrus Research and Field Trial) program.
“Our priorities in Washington, D.C., for 2025 include getting the changes to the required Brix standards across the finish line, securing disaster aid and ensuring the inclusion of citrus, specifically HLB research, in the reauthorized farm bill. We’re also looking forward to building a relationship and working with the new secretary of agriculture to protect and promote the Florida citrus industry.”
Matt Joyner, executive vice president and chief executive officer, Florida Citrus Mutual
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