US: Bayer donates $200,000 toward citrus greening research
"We are thrilled once again to be a Bayer partner on something that is so vital to the citrus industry," said Sonia Tighe, executive director of the Florida Specialty Crop Foundation, which will administer the grant. The foundation is part of the Fruit and Vegetable Association.
The foundation has worked with Bayer for more than five years on other projects, including an earlier $10,000 donation to Farmers Feeding Florida, Tighe said. That's a food recovery program using unmarketable (mainly because of cosmetic blemishes) but still wholesome food that fruit and vegetable packinghouses might discard, she said. Instead the Redlands Christian Migrant Association, a social services agency working in Florida, including Wahneta, distributes the food to migrant workers and their families.
The Citrus Research Foundation has spent more than $66 million since 2009 on more than 200 greening-related research projects to date. "That's obviously good news. Those guys (at Bayer) understand how important this is," said Bobby Barben, an Avon Park-based grower and chairman of the foundation's research committee, which screens and recommends new projects annually.
Source: theledger.com
