By Clint Thompson
The current focus of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Crop Transformation Center is the development of citrus varieties that are resistant to citrus greening disease.
The effectiveness of the Center is it’s not just isolated to citrus. Other fruit and vegetable crops will also be studied, says Scott Angle, UF/IFAS Senior Vice President. He emphasized that point during the recent Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo in Tampa, Florida.
“The is very important for the long-term future of agriculture in Florida. It’s still the No. 2 industry in the state. There are a lot of people employed by it, but it’s changing very quickly right now. Someday it won’t be citrus. Someday it’s going to be strawberries or pomegranates or potatoes. The technologies that we are developing, building and incorporating into our Crop Transformation Center ultimately can be used for other crops as well to get problems solved much faster than we do today,” Angle said.
“We’re going to do citrus first, because that’s where the money is. That’s the greatest need. But we’ll be able to start looking at other crops, eventually.
“A few other states around the country consider themselves top plant science institutions; the University of California-Davis, Cornell. They already do this. We don’t have this in Florida. We will not remain a top leader in plant sciences without something like this.”
The Crop Transformation Center hopes to increase the availability, access and adoption of new plant varieties; advance crop improvement methods with techniques like predictive breeding and precision agriculture; and engage producers and consumers in fruitful dialogue to better understand of crop improvement technologies.