The purpose of this agreement is for: the florida bureau of citrus budwood registration is a large program that includes citrus budwood protection and distribution of foundation material, source…

The Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service awarded a $372,188 cooperative agreement to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for the period of September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2024. This funding supports the Florida Bureau of Citrus Budwood Registration program under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care federal grant program (CFDA 10.025).

The citrus budwood program manages foundation material distribution, source tree testing, variety introduction, therapy and greenhouse testing to support citrus production in Florida. It will also fund the new Accelerated Budwood Initiative to address evolving industry needs. The award will manage pathogen testing and introduction of new citrus germplasm varieties into the U.S. to prevent damaging citrus diseases and enhance competitiveness and sustainability of U.S. citrus production. The program benefits citrus hobbyists, gardeners and local producers, as well as small, mid-sized and larger citrus operations.

The purpose of this agreement is for: the florida bureau of citrus budwood registration is a large program that includes citrus budwood protection and distribution of foundation material, source tree annual RE-testing, new variety introduction, therapy, laboratory, and greenhouse testing, increase propagation and repropagation and maintenance of the florida citrus arboretum. This proposal is an integral part of our long-range plan guiding the replacement, preventative maintenance, operation, and innovation to keep all program functions operating at top capacity. Additionally, this proposal will also support efforts for the new accelerated budwood initiative (ABI) that has been recently enacted to address evolving industry needs. The current proposal will manage under quarantine the introduction of citrus germplasm into the USA (therapy & diagnostics) and will increase the number of pathogen tested citrus varieties available. This will contribute towards the prevention of damaging diseases of citrus and enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of the USA citrus production. This program benefits citrus hobbyists, gardeners and local producers that are typically interested in niche citrus varieties as well as small, mid-sized and larger citrus producers.