State trade body Florida Citrus Mutual has hailed the decision of Florida lawmakers to override a governor's veto of a bill that is seen as crucial to the future of the industry.
The HB 981 bill, which was vetoed by governor Charlie Christ earlier this year despite almost unanimous approval in the 2010 legislature, codifies the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) and also raises the cap on the citrus research assessment from US$0.01 to US$0.03.
According to Florida Citrus Mutual, these two measures are critical to the industry's battle against HLB, or citrus greening, a bacterial disease that is threatening the state's US$9bn citrus industry.
'Making HB 981 law is crucial if our industry is going to beat this insidious disease,' said Michael Sparks, executive vice-president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual. 'Only through the leadership of House Speaker Dean Cannon, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, Senator JD Alexander and Rep. Denise Grimsley was this override made possible. Mutual would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the legislators for their hard work.
'In addition to the CRDF, the bill contains greenbelt language that will protect farmers from losing the agriculture classification because land is put up for sale,' Mr Sparks added. 'This is important to Florida citrus growers as well.'
The CRDF, which is located at the University of Florida's Citrus Research and Education Centre in Lake Alfred, is coordinating the industry's multi-million dollar research effort to defeat citrus greening disease.
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