By Peter Chaires
Summer schedules can make it challenging to assemble board meetings and facilitate planning for the fall season. Once the Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference concludes in June, folks tend to disperse to their favorite islands, fishing holes, mountain hideaways and beaches. Some visit friends and family. Others seek isolation and a psychological recharge.
For everything, there is a season. However, once August rolls around, many growers and nursery owners are easing back into the saddle. It’s now time to execute the plans that were constructed last spring.
PROJECT EVALUATION
During the late spring planning period, industry organizations evaluated 2024–25 research projects, revised priorities and aligned anticipated resources with the next round of worthy projects. It’s a difficult but necessary process.
The New Varieties Development & Management Corp. (NVDMC) board of directors and staff met with University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service research and citrus breeding teams to evaluate 2024–25 sponsored projects and discuss successes, frustrations, setbacks and opportunities.
Researchers presented their suggestions for the 2025–26 season. The NVDMC board’s ultimate challenge was to consider the changing needs of the industry and to fund those projects most likely to produce near-term results, while also laying the groundwork for the future. It’s a daunting task, to put it bluntly.
STAYING IN THE GAME
Growers need immediate results to stay in business and return to profitability. This much is clear. We must inspire growers to stay in the game and do whatever is possible to retain production, nursery, packing and processing capacities.
Thanks to the incredible support of Florida Citrus Mutual, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, UF/IFAS Government Affairs, the Florida Legislature and Florida Department of Citrus, funds will be available to invest in projects to restore and sustain this industry.
ALLOCATING FUNDS
There are a dizzying number of opinions about how this should be done. The boards of NVDMC, Citrus Research and Development Foundation, Citrus Research and Field Trial Foundation, etc. must sort through the options and decide which have the best chance of producing meaningful results within the required timeframe for which funding is available. Funding must be able to see projects to fruition. Funds are invested with greater precision than ever before.
We may never be able to eliminate randomness entirely from the variety development process, but breeders are employing technology, tools, knowledge and experience to improve the likelihood of a near-term beneficial outcome.
As of the deadline date for this article, the sausage was still being made. The Legislature had done its part, allocating the necessary funding, but the process had not yet crossed the finish line. For this reason, Citrus Nursery Source will soon return with greater details about projects to be funded in 2025–26, including summaries of what they are intended to accomplish and who is involved.
NVDMC PRIORITIES
For now, here are some areas of focus designated by the NVDMC board for 2025–26:
- Evaluate the results of oxytetracycline injections of released and unreleased material.
- Keep the pedal down with projects to introgress high levels of tolerance or resistance into commercially useful citrus.
- Focus on field research and early identification of strong candidates to move upstream into more extensive trials.
- Evaluate the most promising fresh market material post-harvest.
- Maintain some level of mutation breeding and creation of new orange-like and grapefruit-like hybrids.
- Rapidly evaluate non-navel sweet oranges selection in Florida conditions.
- Move the most promising specialty fruit selections forward while protecting the interests of Florida growers.
Peter Chaires is executive director of New Varieties Development & Management Corp.
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