In this installment of the UF/IFAS TREC’s Research Report, you’ll learn about Dr. Jonathan Crane’s myriad of projects in the tropical fruit horticulture lab. Dr. Jonathan Crane conducts an applied research program in tropical fruit production and extends the results to the tropical fruit industry which includes producers, industry representatives, and Extension agents. The results of his research come in the form of electronic multi-media material including but not limited to fact sheets, bulletins, videos, and web-based material on tropical fruit culture in south Florida.
Grant for continued research on avocados
A trans-disciplinary research team of 12 UF scientists from around the state (Dr. Jeff Rollins is the project director), including Dr. Crane, have secured a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-NIFA to combat laurel wilt and the redbay ambrosia beetles responsible for it. You can read more about the scope of the grant here.
As a part of the grant, Dr. Crane participated in an introductory seminar so growers, interested investors, and researchers from around the world could learn more about the grant’s scope and the future of avocado farming in Florida. The virtual seminar took place on Thursday, December 19. Hereafter, Dr. Crane will continue working with Drs. Gazis and Carrillo on their ongoing field trials at TREC.
Newsworthy crops: Coffee
If you follow the Center’s social media accounts, you may have noticed that Dr. Crane was recently interviewed regarding Florida’s potential to grow coffee commercially; Dr. Felipe Ferrao is the project director of this statewide effort. Due to the success of the first experimental coffee trial evaluated at UF, an additional 350 coffee plants were recently planted in south Florida. The plantings at TREC are just one of the four coffee plantings around the state. The coffee plants in south Florida have produced beans in as little as 12-13 months and Dr. Ferraro is confident that the trials will have nice results. Dr. Crane suggests that a successful coffee industry in Florida could result in a niche alternative crop for growers.
Additional collaborative projects
Dr. Crane’s collaborative research also extends to dragon fruit (with Drs. Shouan Zhang, Romina Gazis, and Pamela Dutra), finger limes (with Dr. Dutt), passionfruit (with Dr. Sarkhosh) and sugar apple (Dr. Carrillo). For sugar apple specifically, researchers (and Doctor of Plant Medicine intern, Adam Pitcher) were interested to find the distance from which the pollinating Nitidulid beetles could be attracted to the plant with specific pheromones. The result? Thirty feet. A lore could be placed up to 30 feet away from a sugar apple tree and potentially attract the beetle responsible for pollinating the plant. Stay tuned to Dr. Crane’s publications on EDIS for the latest news you can use related to growing tropical fruits in south Florida.
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