The invasion of Florida citrus by Greening has forced us to expand our research and education efforts to develop and deliver solutions to this serious disease. The industry’s prior efforts to fund and direct research to greatest needs over the recent two decades has placed the industry in an excellent position to respond, and the commissioning of a National Academies Strategic Planning effort led to delivery of a 307 page comprehensive report in March of this year to expand on this ongoing effort. The report provides an external expert analysis of the citrus disease situation in Florida, leading to recommendations for expansion of current efforts as well as new approaches to address greening.
Five recommendations from the 11-member National Research Council, Strategic Planning Committee focused on Organization of Research (O-1 through O-5 in the report), while the Committee also indicated a need for expanded dissemination of Information to growers and other interested parties (In-1 through In-3). The main thrust of the report, however, was to describe a series of recommendations to organize research towards short-term as well as long-term solutions. Eleven recommendations addressed short-to-Intermediate research needs, with goals to provide usable results within a five-year time-frame (report recommendations NI-1 through NI-11). In addition to several recommendations focused on delivering tactics for psyllid suppression and for improved management of existing infected groves, results from these research recommendations are crucial building blocks for long-term solutions, such as delivery of citrus trees resistant to greening. The long-term solutions to greening were outlined in 4 research and technology recommendations (L-1 through L-4). The recommendations, with the rationale provided by the Strategic Planning Committee, form a robust research plan. The actual recommendations, as well as an in-depth discussion of the analysis and each recommendation, can be found at http://www.nap.edu.