1. Please state project objectives and what work was done this quarter to address them:
Objective 1: Destroy declining plant material with no direct use to the citrus industry to make space for Stage I and Stage II trials (Years 1 and 2).
Since the previous quartly report, more acreage has been abandoned, pushed and destroyed at CREC, to make space for Stage I and Stage II trials. Hundreds of trees were identified blocks slated for destruction as being suitable for conservation, movement with the tree spade (or other means) and sourced for budwood. As mentioned previously, these trees were identified by both drone and by visual inspection. Project personnel has collected all budwood from these blocks and it was sent for propagation at the nurserylicensed to propagate uncertified budwood. UFarm charges have conserved and saved all materials needed for data mining for tolerant genes and other variants.
Objective 2: Conserve, move, consolidate, and propagate tolerant and resistant citrus trees to a centralized location. (Years 1 and 2).
The block where consolidation will take place has been reserved for this purpose. The nursery has received more accessions than expected by this time point as conservation of useful material is imperative. When the buds take, we will move forward with tree movement with tree spade and other means. The tree spade is reported to be repaired and ready, and the invoice has been paid, but the CREC grove manager has not moved it yet.
2. Please state what work is anticipated for next quarter:
We anticipate using the USDA-ARS tree spade to move the first trees awhich have budwood transferred to the nursery for propagation in late winter/early spring. A method has been proposed by the grove manager in which the spade prunes the roots for the development of a dense root ball, where possible, with a follow up removal with the spade. In some cases trees will be pruned, allowed to flush, which may aid in development in denser roots upon tree movement. There are thousands of trees that are tagged for removal, and we are waiting for final removal of those trees.
3. Please state budget status (underspend or overspend, and why):
We are expending the grant funding in a timely manner (44% time spent versus 57% funding expended) according to the UF/IFAS grants tracking system. The budget is being expended at a rate at which all funding will be expended by the end of the project period. I believe the ratio is as such because the committed funds are used in this calculation, as in the funds have not been expended yet, but they will as the proper time comes.