The U.S. citrus industry is applauding a proposed law that would direct a percentage of the tariffs on imported citrus to fighting citrus greening and other diseases and pests.
The bill was the brainchild of Florida Citrus Mutual, and was quickly embraced by the citrus industries in California, Arizona and Texas.
“We are in the fight of our lives,” said Michael Sparks, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual, Lakeland.
“The money would then be a consistent source of dollars for research programs specific to citrus diseases and pests,” said Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, Exeter.
If the bill becomes law, it could generate $30 million in research dollars over the next three years, said Ted Batkin, president of the Citrus Research Board, Visalia, Calif.
“It would be a real boost to the funds the Florida and California industries are putting up,” he said.
The citrus industries in California and Florida are spending more than $10 million annually in research aimed at eliminating the threat of citrus greening — huanglongbing, or HLB, which has claimed thousands of acres of Florida citrus groves — and the Asian citrus psyllid, the pest that carries the disease.
Since 2006, Florida grower-shippers and processors have committed more than $39 million to HLB research, Sparks said.
“This (the bill) will certainly give us a leg up in protecting an essential U.S. industry,” he said.
Some of the research projects are beginning to pay dividends.
“We’re looking at some very, very promising research, but it’s very expensive research,” Batkin said.
Among those projects, he said, is a protein that could be injected into trees to act as a therapeutic.
The bill has the support of citrus importers, most of whom bring processed products into the U.S., Nelsen said.
“They, too, have the psyllid or HLB or, like California, are just as frightened of it as we are,” he said. “So we all see a vested interest in generating as many sustained research programs as possible.”
Industry leaders from the four states would oversee the fund and would approve projects submitted by the individual states, “because our needs are different,” Nelsen said.
The bill could receive Congressional approval as soon as this fall, Nelsen said, and could be in the Fiscal 2011 federal budget.
Senators Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; and John Cornyn, R-Texas; sponsored the bill.
In Florida, citrus is a $9 billion industry annually and provides employment for more than 75,000 workers, according to Florida Citrus Mutual. California Citrus Mutual’s records indicate the state’s $1.8 billion industry supports 10,000 employees with another 12,000 workers dependent on citrus production for their employment in transportation, exports and other ancillary activities.