University of Florida agricultural researchers working to solve the problems of Southwest Florida growers of fruits and vegetables held an open house in Immokalee this week to let folks know how they are working to solve major problems like citrus greening, poor soil, and pest management.

The open house was held at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee. Students from a nearby elementary school enjoyed 45-minute rides on a tractor-pulled trailer with seats while learning some of the very basics of farming, displays inside the main building explained some of the latest technology being developed to help farmers, and professors and their students were eager to answer questions.

Yiannis Ampatzidis, an associate professor in agricultural engineering, showed off his drone technology that could assess almost every relevant condition in a grove in seconds as it flew over parcel after parcel.

“We want to increase production and make them more competitive in this global market,” he said. “Precision agricultural tries to increase yield and reduce operating costs.”

Ampatzidis was joined by colleagues who demonstrated the inter-relations between citrus varieties, the latest techniques in pest management, and a white mesh netting system over young citrus trees that is showing success in keeping a small flying pest from spreading the tree-killing “citrus greening” disease.

The discovery of the pest – the Asian citrus psyllid — in Florida in 1998 set off a chain reaction that quickly spread to all citrus-producing counties. This pest, responsible for the spread of citrus greening, rendered the disease uncontrollable once it was detected in the state in 2005.

The consequences have included a drastic reduction in the acreage and fruit production of Florida’s citrus industry, deeply impacting the state’s agricultural economy.

The citrus industry has fought back hard against greening, even agreeing to a box tax to raise millions of dollars to fund worldwide research efforts to find a solution.

About 100 people came and went during the four-hour event, which included a free lunch. The open house is planned to be an annual event that will be offered again this time next year.

The Southwest Florida Research and Education Center supports thirteen research programs in citrus horticulture, vegetable horticulture, irrigation and water resource management, precision agricultural engineering, pest management, plant pathology, citrus pathology, agricultural and natural resource economics, soil microbiology, plant physiology, weed science, soil science, and agricultural economics.

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