Local citrus industry leaders met in Fort Myers Wednesday. They discussed—among other things— the $2 million awarded by the state Legislature for a research center in Immokalee.
This past year has been another tough one for Florida’s citrus industry.
Citrus greening has continued to decimate orange groves across the country. However, industry leaders are optimistic-- mostly because they’re getting help to fight the disease.
During the Gulf Citrus Growers Association’s 28th annual meeting, industry representatives said they’re getting sizeable funding for research and help from local lawmakers.
Calvin Arnold was the keynote speaker at the meeting. He’s the new leader of the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, which was recently awarded $2 million.
Arnold said updating the Center will help growers.
“They do need the science worse than ever because they are actually fighting for their survival,” he said. “It’s a real battle out there and they need all the science they can get to help them compete.”
Arnold said the center’s new funding will go to facility upgrades, three new laboratories, as well as new research. Arnold hopes to get a specialist to study soil microbes, which is an area of research he said gets little attention but greatly affects growers.
