An ad hoc committee will conduct an assessment of citrus greening research efforts supported by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) from 2010-2016 to identify ways to retool citrus greening research to accelerate the development of durable tools and strategies that could help abate the damage caused by citrus greening and prevent the total collapse of the citrus industry.

The committee will examine the state of knowledge on citrus greening and review the portfolio of research projects that have been or continue to be supported by CRDF to determine: 1) if the research efforts are in line with the research and technology recommendations in the 2010 NRC report; 2) research areas where progress has been achieved/not achieved; 3) research areas where efforts should be continued/discontinued; 4) research areas where more focus is needed or in which efforts need to be expanded and intensified; 5) research areas where efforts need to be integrated; 6) other promising research avenues to pursue; and 7) applicable research techniques/approaches from other scientific disciplines for consideration. The committee will also look at the portfolio in light of research efforts that are currently being funded by the California Citrus Research Board and federal agencies and institutions and examine opportunities for synergy. The committee will prepare a report describing what is currently known about citrus greening – the disease, its causal organism, its vector, and the vector-pathogen-plant relationship; what knowledge is needed to improve disease control; and the committee’s conclusions with respect to a viable research strategy.