LAKE ALFRED, Fla. — The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences citrus faculty have worked earnestly to find workable tactics for growers to use in their operations to fight Huanglongbing, or citrus greening disease. That information will be front and center at a November 16 Open House and Field Day at the Lake Alfred experiment station.
Over 20 hands-on exhibits will feature the latest research findings to help growers keep their diseased trees productive, increase yield, fight fruit drop, manage a number of diseases including HLB and provide the right nutrition and irrigation to keep their citrus trees productive. The morning program will kick off with a panel discussion with CREC researchers highlighting, “What growers can do now to improve tree health.”
Growers can then visit with UF/IFAS CREC faculty at interactive exhibits featuring the latest information they can use now to impact their groves’ productivity. The afternoon will feature field tours of a new Jackson grapefruit trial featuring HLB-tolerant trees on six different rootstocks with high-density spacing that monitors insect and mite management and uses two sizes of individual protective covers (IPC). Another field tour will feature an integrated project looking at reflective mulch, kaolin clay, ipcs, and their impact on nutrition, irrigation, plant pathology and overall tree growth.
The CREC Processing Pilot Plant which contains most of the equipment necessary to perform studies related to citrus, beverage and by-products processing will also be open for tours. Visitors will be able to see the operations of fruit washing and sizing, state test extraction, juice extraction and finishing, centrifugation, evaporation, pasteurization and filtration. Research capabilities are available to support the studies of the scientists and for cooperative industry projects.
The open house event runs 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and lunch is provided. The event is free, but preregistration is required to ensure an accurate food count. To register visit: https://crecfieldday21.eventbrite.com. For more information, please contact Jamie Burrow at jdyates@ufl.edu or the UF/IFAS CREC at (863) 956-1151.
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The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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