Highlights
- Eight UF faculty teams received a total of $524,734 in funding to develop innovative agricultural solutions, spanning multiple departments and off-campus centers.
- Funded projects include climate-resilient coffee cultivation, cacao disease resistance, specialty crop development, bamboo harvesting technology and wildlife impact mitigation.
- SEEDIT supports emerging enterprise development by creating new agricultural markets, fostering public-private partnerships and promoting entrepreneurship to bring discoveries to the marketplace.
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 SEEDIT, Support for Emerging Enterprise Development Integration Teams, funding program, which provides UF/IFAS faculty with research funding to solve novel agricultural problems.
The SEEDIT program funds projects that create new markets for agricultural products and services by finding and solving barriers to growth, creating significant public-private partnerships, supporting Florida’s agricultural versatility and sustaining a culture of entrepreneurship to bring discoveries to the marketplace.
“We are thrilled to fund these diverse SEEDIT projects that determine the viability of new crops and enterprises in Florida. This research allows us to determine potential and lower production risk for our Florida growers,” said Rob Gilbert, UF/IFAS dean for research.
This year’s program funded eight faculty teams for a total of $524,734. The programs will span research departments and various off-campus research and education centers.
The funded projects range from exploring coffee as an alternative crop for Florida to investigating diseases that threaten cacao to establishing persimmons as a specialty crop in Florida.
Coffee is one alternative crop possibility for farmers in Florida, but the crop faces challenges like extreme heat, disease and price volatility. In order for coffee to be a sustainable option, new varieties that can handle climate variations need to be identified. Led by Luis Felipe Ferrao, research assistant scientist in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, the research aims to achieve several goals: explore innovative growing solutions that allow coffee to be grown in Central and North Florida in addition to sunny South Florida, assess the quality of coffee grown in in those regions and analyze genetic mechanisms related to environmental stress to create climate-resilient varieties.
Another project focuses on chocolate production by preventing cacao disease. Headed by Erica Goss, a professor in the UF/IFAS Department of Horticultural Sciences via the UF/IFAS Crop Transformation Center, the project will conduct extensive research on one of the diseases that affects cacao, called black pod disease, to develop methods for screening for plants that are developing resistance to current treatment methods for the disease.
A full list of the 2026 SEEDIT recipients:
- Michael Andreu, associate professor in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, received $73,393 for his proposal, “Vitalizing Florida’s Native Seed Industry through Research, Extension, and Economic Development.”
- Corey Callaghan, assistant professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, received $68,075 for his proposal, “Mitigating Sandhill Crane Impacts in Agricultural Settings.”
- Luis Felipe Ferrao, research assistant scientist in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, received $73,060 for his proposal, “Coffee 2.0: Breeding for Climate-Smart Coffee Cultivars.”
- Kevin Folta, professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, received $32,663 for his proposal, “Commercial Apples in Florida — Viable Synergy from Rootstock/Scion Combinations.”
- Erica Goss, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, received $74,612 for her proposal, “CacaoCare — Establishing UF/IFAS as a Global Leader in Cacao Disease Resistance.”
- Daniel Hofstetter, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, received $75,000 for his proposal, “Developing a Mechanical Harvester for the Florida Bamboo Industry.”
- Matias Kirst, professor in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, received $53,245 for his proposal, “The Genetic and Commercial Potential of Redbay (Persea borbonia L. Spreng).”
- Ali Sarkhosh, associate professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, received $74,686 for his proposal, “Persimmon: Establishing the Groundwork for the Development of an Emerging Specialty Fruit Crop Industry in Florida.”
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
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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