In North Carolina, Bayer and the Citrus Research and Development Foundation, a Florida non-profit supporting citrus growers, signed a research collaboration agreement to find solutions to Citrus Greening disease, currently threatening the global citrus production and juice industry. No effective treatment exists against the bacterium Candidatus liberibacter, the causal agent of Citrus Greening.
Bayer will provide access to its disease control know-how and will coordinate public and private research to find novel solutions for Citrus Greening in Florida and beyond. The research activities will focus on a broad set of possible tools against Citrus Greening, mainly to identify biological disease control solutions or molecules that modulate the plants’ innate immune defense system.
CRDF is organizing the financing of this project, combining public funds with contributions from the citrus growers and the juice industry. The partnership is financially supported by PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company, two leaders in the juice industry.