The University of California, Riverside has secured over $11 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for three research projects addressing the citrus disease Huanglongbing (HLB). Grants are being provided by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The research focuses on developing tolerance to the disease through rootstocks, shoots and branches, and a systemic peptide.
Danelle Seymour leads a $6.8 million project breeding HLB-resistant rootstocks, collaborating with USDA’s Kim Bowman. Another project, led by Chandrika Ramadugu with $3.28 million in funding, aims to develop HLB-resistant scion varieties. Hailing Jin heads a $1.36 million project using a peptide from Australian finger limes to combat HLB by injecting trees with a natural citrus virus.
The grants were made possible by the 2018 Agricultural Improvement Act, addressing the urgent need to combat HLB and protect the citrus industry, which supplies 80 percent of the nation’s fresh citrus.
Listen to the report below.
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West