UF/IFAS team secures $5M USDA grant to expand avocado production into Central Florida, combat Laurel wilt disease

Laurel wilt devastated this row of Florida avocado trees at UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center.

Scientists with the University of Florida have secured a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to combat the lethal Laurel wilt disease and the redbay ambrosia beetles responsible for it.

The research aims to improve control and mitigation practices for avocado production in Florida. The grant will also support the testing of new varieties for their tolerance to cold and disease. This initiative is poised to extend avocado cultivation beyond Miami-Dade County, fostering growth and sustainability beyond the Sunshine State’s avocado production industry.

Click here for details on this research.

Tropical fruit expert Jonathan Crane examines avocados in a research grove at UF’s Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead – He is one of the co-principal investigators on the $5M USDA-NIFA grant. Crane has led extension research on the disease along with other specialty scientists from TREC.

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By Lourdes Mederos, rodriguezl@ufl.edu