FORT PIERCE, Fla. \u2013 Nearly 200 citrus industry members gathered in the groves of Indian River Wednesday\u00a0to learn more about how thermotherapy can be used to battle citrus greening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hosted by the USDA Fort Pierce facility and sponsored by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation, the Citrus Thermotherapy Field Day\u00a0highlighted research being conducted on the use of tree covers to trap solar heat and speed up the process of greening treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By using heat \u2013 high enough to kill bacteria but low enough to protect fruit and foliage from damage \u2013\u00a0thermotherapy has proven effective in limited field trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\u00a0event Wednesday included a look at different application methods\u00a0and a grove where thermotherapy has been in use for almost three years. Scientists and engineers onsite provided demonstrations and provided details on cost, effectiveness and practicality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the Citrus Research and Development Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Citrus Research and Development Foundation is a non-profit corporation organized under Florida State laws as a Direct Service Organization of the University of Florida.\u00a0The Mission of the Foundation is to \u201cadvance disease and production research and product development activities to insure the survival and competitiveness of Florida\u2019s citrus growers through innovation.\u201d More information on the event can be found at Citrusrdf.org<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thermotherapy has proven effective in limited field trials. FORT PIERCE, Fla. \u2013 Nearly 200 citrus industry members gathered in the groves of Indian River Wednesday\u00a0to learn more about how thermotherapy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","fdoc_news_item_category":[106,96],"fdoc_citrus_type":[],"fdoc_health_category":[],"class_list":["post-4091","fdoc-news-item","type-fdoc-news-item","status-publish","hentry","fdoc_news_item_category-citrus-greening","fdoc_news_item_category-research"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t