DA is allocating $1 million to support research aimed at combating citrus greening, a bacterial disease that has devastated millions of acres of citrus groves, mainly in Florida.The funds will be used to jumpstart another initiative, the creation of a “unified emergency response framework'' to coordinate efforts by the citrus industry and the different federal and state agencies involved in fighting the disease, technically known as Huanglongbing, or HLB.
“USDA is listening to the citrus industry's request for more urgency and greater coordination on the response to HLB,'' U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. Later, during a teleconference, Vilsack said the USDA had already committed almost $250 million to fight greening, which has resulted in thousands of lost jobs just in Florida.
The secretary urged Congress to quickly pass a new farm bill that will continue to support this type of research and protect a crop worth $3 billion a year. Vilsack's call was seconded by Jack Payne, senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources at the University of Florida, who was also on the teleconference.
In the U.S., the entire states of Florida and Georgia are under quarantine from HLB, and parts of California, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas are under partial quarantine, according to USDA.
