US: Growers hope for ailing citrus

Television commercials once beckoned to consumers, "Come to the Florida Sunshine Tree," and proclaimed, "Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine."

But, today, the Sunshine Tree could be facing sunset, and a Florida without oranges is becoming more and more imaginable.

Citrus greening disease is slowly killing Florida's iconic groves and with them a $9 billion industry that employs 75,000 people.

The inability so far to cure or even control the disease poses a threat not only to Florida's image but to its overall economy.

One ray of hope is that the state and federal governments are responding to the crisis.

This year's federal Farm Bill — backed by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson over conservative opposition — includes $125 million for citrus greening research. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced an additional $31.5 million for a program to combat greening.

Also this month, the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services opened a new, $2 million laboratory and greenhouse complex near Gainesville, funded by the Legislature, to study varieties of healthy citrus from around the nation and the world for potential introduction to Florida.

Growers in jeopardy
Scientists working with the state and federal agriculture departments and in universities have been researching methods to combat the disease since it first surfaced in Florida in 2005. Some of the research shows promise but, even if a strategy ultimately proves successful, it could take years of testing before it's placed in widespread use.

Source: www.theledger.com