- Author: Ben A Faber
Florida's citrus industry has long been susceptible to freezes, hurricanes, and disease. A series of devastating freezes in the 1970s and 1980s caused production to shift to more southern regions of the State. Then after near-record output in the 2003/04 season, subsequent events decreased Florida's orange output at an average rate of 6 percent a year. Between 2004 and 2005, 4 hurricanes reduced the size of the orange crop and further spread citrus canker, a bacterial disease damaging to tree health and fruit quality, to previously unaffected areas. The Florida citrus industry faced an additional challenge in 2005, when citrus greening disease, a bacterial disease deadly to citrus trees, was first detected in its commercial...
- Author: Saoimanu Sope
In celebration of Black History Month
Through music, movies and other media, many people know about Compton, a city located in southern Los Angeles County. Keith Nathaniel knows it from firsthand experience. Before Nathaniel and his family moved to Compton in the 1970s, the LA Watts Riots of 1965 underscored the tension brewing between law enforcement and the Black community that was felt not just in California but nationwide.
“Before we moved, Compton was changing from a predominantly White city to a Black city. The Watts Riots changed that and suddenly, you've got White flight out of Compton and into the suburbs,” said Nathaniel, UC...
/h3>- Author: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
- Author: Peggy G. Lemaux
- Author: Barbara Alonso
The bacterium that causes huanglongbing (HLB), “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus” (CLas), enters a citrus tree either through grafts or when the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) feeds. Once inside the tree, the bacterium travels through the phloem, the tissue that distributes nutrients, and has potential to infect the entire tree.
This project focuses on developing an automated method for delivering therapeutic liquid materials directly into the citrus phloem. The delivery method is called Needle-Assisted Trunk Infusion (NATI) and uses an ATV with a robotic arm to deliver the therapeutics.
How exactly is it done, and what are the challenges and opportunities with this new way to treat...
- Author: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
- Author: Barbara Alonso
Citrus trees emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), or odors, that are the end products of plant metabolism. Researchers can measure the VOCs emitted by a plant and create an “odorprint”. Pathogens, such as the bacterium CLas that causes huanglongbing (HLB), affect plant metabolism and alter the odor profile of the plant. Thus, the odor profile can be used to detect HLB-infected trees.
What happens once an odorprint shows the presence of HLB? Visit the Research Snapshot to learn more.
- Author: Ben Faber
The USDA has summarized the US citrus crop for 2018-19 and it is up for both California and Florida, with CA accounting for 51% of US production! But the Florida orange crop is up from last year. This is the state that is getting hammered by huanglongbing amongst all the other demands being made on that industry. This is good news for citrus.
The full report is Here
But the summary is:
Citrus utilized production for the 2018-19 season totaled 7.94 million tons, up 31 percent from the 2017-18 season. California accounted for 51 percent of total United States citrus production; Florida totaled 44...