The USDA will provide $11 million for scientific research to battle citrus greening disease, according to a USDA news release issued this morning. Citrus greening disease is spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, which made its way to California in 2008. When a tree acquires the disease from the pest, nutrient flow is obstructed, the fruit stays green, grows lopsided and tastes bitter.

USDA will invest $2 million this year for research at the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Ft. Pierce, Fla. The remaining $9 million will be offered in a three-year competitive grants program by the agency's National Institute of Food...