Team Led by UC Riverside Scientist Receives $4 million Grant to Fight Disease Devastating Citrus Industry

February 10, 2016 | Sean Nealon

Press Release – RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — A team of researchers led by a University of California, Riverside scientist has been awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in an attempt to save the United States citrus industry from a disease that has already devastated the industry worldwide.

Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening disease, is a bacterial plant disease fatal to citrus trees. The disease has devastated citrus trees in Asia, South America and Florida. More recently it has been found in Texas and California.

“This disease is getting more and more scary because we have no cure,” said Wenbo Ma, an associate professor of plant pathology at UC Riverside and lead researcher on the project. “Once a tree is infested all a grower can do is watch it die.” Read More

Citrus Day Set for Growers and Industry Professionals at UC Riverside on Jan. 27

January 19, 2016 | Sean Nealon

Press Release – RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — The University of California, Riverside will host the 5th annual citrus field day for citrus growers and citrus industry professionals on Jan. 27 at the university’s agricultural operations fields.

The event, which will includes a mix of presentations and field tours, is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Advance registration, which is $25, is required. The deadline is Jan. 22. There will be no day-of-event registration available.

To register visit: https://form.jotform.com/53556635957975. For more information call 951-827-5906.

The following is a tentative schedule for the event: Read More

Citrus Curator Given Endowed Chair to Support UCR’s Citrus Variety Collection in Perpetuity

January 14, 2016 | Sean Nealon

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — Tracy Kahn, curator of the University of California, Riverside’s Citrus Variety Collection, has been appointed the Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection Endowed Chair.

The appointment, which went into effect July 1, 2015 and runs through June 30, 2020, allows the collection to be supported and maintained in perpetuity. It was made possible by a $1 million endowment from Givaudan, a Swiss-based company that is the global leader in the creation of fragrances and flavors.

Kahn has been the curator of the Citrus Variety Collection, one of the world’s most diverse assemblages of citrus cultivars and their relatives, since 1995. The collection consists of at least four trees each of more than 1,000 citrus cultivars, including cultivars developed at UCR, new and heirloom cultivars and citrus relatives introduced from around the world since the collection was established in the early 1900s. Read More