Source: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA submitted to
CN: A COORDINATED NETWORK FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF HLB RESEARCH AND EXTENSION OUTPUTS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1029503
Grant No.
2022-70029-38609
Project No.
FLA-CRC-006265
Proposal No.
2022-06733
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
ECDRE
Project Start Date
Sep 30, 2022
Project End Date
Sep 29, 2025
Grant Year
2022
Project Director
Dewdney, M. M.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
While the United States of America is currently the fifth-largest citrus producing country, less citrus is being grown than it has been historically. There has been a 72% reduction in fruit for juice and a 20% reduction in fruit for fresh consumption. This has led to significant economic losses in the citrus industry, particularly in Florida but also Texas. The effects have been smaller in California, but the future is uncertain. There are many reasons why growing citrus is becoming less common, but the largest reason nationally is a plant disease called huanglongbing (HLB), sometimes known as citrus greening. The disease causes citrus trees to slowly weaken so they do not produce as many fruit, and the fruit become unpalatable. The trees eventually die. In states where citrus is a major crop, is an important cultural focus, underpinning the livelihoods of many family farms. Citrus contributes to a stable United States food supply, where it is not necessary to import food in increasingly unstable times. It also brings joy to many residents to have citrus trees at their residences. Furthermore, citrus groves contribute to providing needed green spaces, allowing animals to find shelter, water to enter the soil, and cooler temperatures. It is important to support research that contributes to finding ways to fight HLB and grow citrus economically, so that it can remain part of the fabric of the United States.In the 15 years since HLB was discovered in Florida, a large citrus research effort by the USDA has concentrated on learning about the bacterial disease and the insect that moves it, along with how to grow citrus with the disease. While progress has been made on our knowledge of the disease, much work remains. Research discoveries, including those by the USDA,have had an impact on supporting success in growing citrus, although for many it is not economically sustainable. But growers find that they cannot easily access USDA research discoveries in an easily interpreted format, making it challenging to use that new research in their groves. This project will build a web-based portal resource to house USDA HLB research information in a non-technical, curated manner that is responsive to grower input. It will be organized and searchable by topic so that it is easily accessible in one place, especially for citrus growers and other citrus industry users. As part of the effort to make research discoveries more accessible by growers, we will use data to build two tools to help them make grove management decisions. The tool development will follow grower priorities and be guided by their input to achieve easily understandable information in the best format for their needs. Grower meetings and education events will be conducted in the citrus growing regions to explain what is available through the portal and the best ways to use the tools. Meeting grower needs is essential, as such it is also important to identify where the USDA has not enough research focus or communication gaps. Ongoing project evaluation will ensure that the project is meeting the needs of all intended audiences within the financial means and information available. The ultimate goal is to get the best and most current information to growers and USDA-NIFA in a manner that is most usable to them.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2160999116035%
2160999113025%
2160999106020%
2160999101010%
2160999308010%
Knowledge Area
216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
0999 - Citrus, general/other;

Field Of Science
1130 - Entomology and acarology; 1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1160 - Pathology; 1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 3080 - Sociology;
Goals / Objectives
While there have been generous, large, targeted USDA research funding programs (i.e., ECDRE, SCRI-CDRE), managing HLB remains challenging for the citrus industry. Until HLB was discovered in the United States, there had been relatively little research done on the system leaving huge knowledge gaps in areas like disease epidemiology, vector ecology, and physiological effects on citrus trees. Some of these gaps have been partially filled with the concentrated USDA research effort of the last 15 years but the large amount of data produced has not always been synthesized and relayed back to the citrus industry via the extension system. Citrus industry stakeholders are desperate for information but feel that relatively little has been provided compared with the immense research effort. Agoal of this project is to document and translate HLB research to the HLB community of growers.A similar set of problems have occurred for the HLB research community. There is a plethora of research studies being published as data about HLB have been generated in the United States for over 15 years and from other countries for much longer. However, it is very difficult for researchers to easily find specific information. Often data are not available for comparisons among studies, and it can be difficult to link various lines of inquiry together to generate new and novel findings. The project aims to develop tools to show what lines of USDA research have promise, those that are unlikely to lead to solutions, and those that have promise but there are key pieces of information needed to continue. This is essential for researchers to be able to generate new hypotheses to test and better address the identified knowledge gaps. To complicate matters, the HLB community has non-standard ways of referring to data or apply terminology in multiple, conflicting ways. This can lead to confusion in the literature and when comparing findings when comparing work. This will need to be partially addressed as part of the project and communicated back to the HLB research community.Growers are expressing dissatisfaction with the direction of research funding and NIFA-ECDRE need a way to show that they are addressing the concerns of growers but also that they are responding to those concerns. We will give a databaseto help them determine if the concerns are already being addressed and if not, how they can fill the gaps.We will use stakeholder input and direct consultation to guide our processes in developing the database and decision support tools. We plan to address these problems and assist NIFA-ECDRE to refine research priorities for the future by developing tools for citrus industry stakeholders, the HLB-research community, and research organization administrators. Our objectives for this project are:Objective 1. Develop database for stakeholders to access critical information about research findings on HLB.Objective 2. Develop high quality extension products from existing and future knowledge needs, assessing extension effectiveness and research and continued extension gap monitoring.
Project Methods
The first step will be to put together a global advisory committee that will contain two subcommittees. The global advisory committee will advise the team on the project direction and improvements. One subcommittee will guide the database building process from available data held by USDA agencies. The second subcommittee will consist of industry representatives from the citrus growing regions to provide feedback on the functionality and usability of the grower decision support tools.The second step will be to identify stakeholder priorities. The primary stakeholder groups are growers from the citrus producing regions, packers and processors, NIFA-ECDRE personnel, and NAREEE citrus subcommittee members. We will conduct needs assessments using listening sessions, focus groups, and surveys with the various stakeholders; data collection activities will be based on regions in recognition that growers will have different needs and priorities depending on location. To enhance product quality and effectiveness, we will collect data on the attributes, needs, and expectations of their intended users. Individual interviews, focus groups, and/or survey questionnaires will be used to collect data.Web portal users will be directed from a simple interface landing page based on answers given on a decision tree. There will be an area where the project team will record the progress of the project and up-coming goals. The sort of information available to the user will be determined by user type. Users will be provided with a username and password for logging into the site after they have completed the registration process, and the information they can view will be determined by enforcing role-based access controls. The navigation tools will guide users to the needed information by using structured trees or SQL queries running in the background. Once the user has defined their interests, they will be directed to content choices about their topic. We will develop grower decision tools for select topics with sufficient research.Data harmonization is needed among data sources, including metadata and raw data. A data dictionary is essential to harmonize how variables are labelled so that the data can be easily categorized, searched, and tagged. The data dictionary terms will require careful thought and coordination among the PIs, NIFA-ECDRE personnel, the citrus subcommittee, and USDA agencies so that it encompasses as many needs as possible. Additional input from the Citrus Industry subcommittee will be needed to identify the terminology growers are likely to use as search terms so that these can be included as tags. As the dictionary is developed, it will be periodically circulated to USDA agencies for input and suggestions. It may be necessary to develop a way for new terms to be suggested and evaluated if novel variables are being collected.Database development, grower decision support tools and webpages are important, but without content are ultimately meaningless. We will develop a pipeline to curate information that allows the database content to be understood by citrus industry stakeholders. The priority of topic areas will be determined in consultation with the advisory committee. The topics will be immediately deployable information, which may differ regionally. Once the topic priorities are determined, the program manager will work with the PD and Co-PIs to assign topics to the most appropriate project members to collect and synthesize the available data and evaluate available extension products.The extension portion of the website does not need to start from the very beginning but can build off existing resources like the UF/IFAS Citrus Research page (UF/IFAS Citrus Research) where public HLB research information conducted at the UF is housed. Ruth Borger, the UF/IFAS CREC communications specialist, is a collaborator on this project and will allow us to use the resources and information she has gathered. If excellent extension products already exist, they will be linked to the network so that users can easily locate the needed information without duplication. The original authors will be given full credit for their works, and extension products will be housed where the authors prefer with links from the CN project.To maintain the functionality of the web-portal, standard operating procedures (SOP) will be written for data base management and maintenance along with other required NIFA functions. Impact will be recorded like for land grant institutions (https://landgrantimpacts.org/).Bringing disparate data sources together and synthesizing them into a cohesive product is not always straight forward. Our grower decision support tools need to be high-quality, evidence-based products. They will also need to be updated and modified with new information as it become available. Research on HLB is highly varied, but we have identified four topic areas for grower decision support tools from frequently asked questions of growers and extension agents. We will work with the advisory committee to prioritize the topics. The topics are 1) cultivar and rootstock susceptibility to HLB, 2) tailoring nutritional regimens to support HLB-affected trees for a grove, 3) integrated Asian citrus psyllid management, and 4) whether to use an antimicrobial strategy and selection of appropriate application method. There will only be enough resources to develop two of these grower tools and possibly do the initial work for a third. We will design a grower decision tool where the choices are clear and simple, the outcomes are clear, and resources are linked. Another possible format to present data is as a searchable catalogue which is filterable based on traits to help growers select a variety that suits their growing conditions including disease tolerance. This would be an excellent way to present growers with information about the HLB sensitivity of cultivars as well as consumer preferences.The body of HLB research generated by USDA agencies since 2006 has not been synthesized into grower appropriate language. Based on advisory committee prioritization, we will synthesize the available information into short non-technical research summaries, linking to published scholarly articles or extension documents. They will give the objectives and study rational, summarize the results, and conclusions, emphasizing HLB management. Digital object identifiers (DOI) will take the reader to any original research papers for more in depth reading. It will not be possible to review every USDA project in the 2.5 years, hence the need for subject matter prioritization from the advisory committee. We will create a rubric to guide authors on how to draft new non-technical summaries for the future. These reviews will be housed in the database and linked to any appropriate tools. In-service trainings and webinars on how to get the most from the developed tools will be produced.Part of any extension program is ensuring that the information being generated and distributed is evaluated for effectiveness to the intended audience. This includes the web portal and the grower decision support tools. To promote the adoption of the developed products and their impact, key elements of the Diffusion of Innovations theory will inform the development of both the data collection instruments and the actual products. Specifically, we will use the 5 attributes of innovations that directly influence the adoption. These attributes are: 1) Relative advantage - how are these products better than the current practice? 2) Compatibility - how do the new products fit with the intended users' needs? 3) Complexity - how difficult would it be for the intended users to understand and use the products? 4) Trialability - how can we have the intended users try the new products? and 5) Observability - what are the observable outcomes of these products, and how can we make these more evident to the intended users?

Progress 09/30/23 to 09/29/24

Outputs
Target Audience: Citrus growers: We are developing a database to provide citrus growers with comprehensive information about the devastating disease Huanglongbing (HLB). To ensure the database meets growers' needs and expectations, an advisory committee is being formed with guidance and support from extension agents, particularly in Florida, where the disease has caused significant damage. Guided interviews with growers will be conducted in Florida, Texas and California. To this end, preliminary conversations and pilot tests with growers and extension agents have already been completed to refine the interview protocol and prepare for its systematic implementation within the grower community. These interviews will initially involve advisory committee members, and based on findings, a broader audience of growers will be engaged. Florida will be the first state to participate in this process, followed by California and Texas. Scientific community: The scientific community involved in citrus research also plays a crucial role in this initiative. In addition to HLB-specific scientists, we have begun consulting them about their research outcomes as needed. We have also engaged 4 data scientists from other universities, agencies, database experts, and USDA representatives to contribute to the design and structure of the database, ensuring it meets the needs of both, researchers and industry professionals. Changes/Problems:Running a project, especially one that involves multiple states, universities, agencies, faculty, students, and other stakeholders, present several challenges. The major ones include: Scattered and inconsistent information: The data available from USDA sources is often fragmented, outdated, and inconsistent, with significant gaps and redundancies. Extracting meaningful information from USDA reports can be particularly challenging, as many research outcomes are not reported uniformly across different initiatives and agencies. This inconsistency limits our ability to systematize and analyze data effectively. Translating research outputs: A substantial portion of research outputs consists of conference presentations, posters, extension materials, and capacity building initiatives. However, it is difficult to establish parameters to translate this information into actionable insights for growers. Diverse research record structures: Each USDA agency has its own structure for research records, resulting in a lack of uniformity in data collection. This variability reduces the likelihood of establishing consistent parameters that meet database requirements. Misinformation: For example, there is confusion regarding non peer review publications. Some are labeled as "in process" and remain unpublished, leading to potential misinformation about available research outputs. Collaboration challenges: The collaborative nature of this project can lead to delays, as activities may take longer than initially planned. Coordinating meetings and common activities can also be difficult due to the busy schedule of project participants. Administrative delays: Administrative procedures can be time-consuming, particularly when approvals involve multiple institutions and agencies, resulting in longer wait times than expected. Despite these and other minor challenges, the REON team is confident that the web-based tools currently being developed will greatly enhance communication channels. These tools will play a pivotal role in mitigating the effects of HLB across the major citrus-growing regions of the USA. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Below is a list of additional courses, training sessions, and professional opportunities: The team: In addition to the exceptional skills of all project participants, the REON team is enhancing their expertise in creating a controlled vocabulary with the support of FAO through the AGROVOC team (for more information, please, visit agrovoc.fao.org). The postdoctoral researcher is gaining valuable experience in: Text mining and cluster analyzes, engaging online courses and one-on-one guidance using R. Program management via online course. Controlled vocabularies: joined an online training program offered by AGROVOC Graduate students are also acquiring experience in data analysis, particularly text mining, through one-on-one meetings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project is still in its early stages: therefore, there are not activities to report yet regarding the sharing of results with the target audience or a broader public. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The actions reported here correspond to each part of the project addressed thus far: HLB-research outputs: We will continue our review of USDA-funded HLB initiatives to extract as many relevant research outcomes as possible. To strength this effort, we will engage with USDA awardees to discuss not only their successes but also the lessons learned from less successful initiatives. While accessing this information can be challenging, it is essential for improving the overall HLB research process. Once the information is systematized, we can streamline the development of strategies to effectively present the findings. Practical summaries would be particularly useful in this regard. Moreover, the diverse analyses (ongoing and planned) will allow us to better meet stakeholder expectations. Webpage/database: The immediate goal is to make the website fully operational. Long-term, we will continue feeding the database with relevant information while adjusting its structure to better meet user needs. The key challenge remains making the data both, interactive and easy to use. HLB-REON Controlled vocabulary (REON-VOC): The immediate objective is to consolidate REONVOC and integrate it into the REON database. As more information is included, REONVOC will become an accessible point of reference for HLB terminology and concepts. Advisory growers committee: With the guidance of the committee, we will schedule new activities targeted at a broader audience to continue gathering information on HLB management practices. Feedback form growers is central to this initiative, and their ongoing input will remain crucial to its success. Extension products: By the next reporting period, we expect to have the web-based tools fully consolidated, allowing us to shift focus on the project's second goal: developing extension products. We will engage with HLB stakeholders to share REON outputs and gather feedback on the tools' implementations, while ensuring that the information is delivered in the most engaging and accessible way possible.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The first goal of this project is to develop web-based resources and a comprehensive database to provide stakeholders with critical information about research findings on HLB from USDA agencies. These tools aim to offer a consolidated view of all USDA projects addressing HLB, becoming a reliable source of information for stakeholders in the citrus industry. The second objective is to develop high-quality extension products, assess their effectiveness, and continuously monitor extension gaps. Since we are still in the initial phase, this update will focus on the progress made toward the first objective: the development of the HLB-REON webpage and database. Our initial efforts have concentrated on four key areas: HLB-research outputs: Our main goal is to extract and present HLB-research outcomes in a format accessible to growers and other stakeholders. To this end, data has been collected from multiple platforms, including the former "Current Research Information (CRIS)" and the new "Data Gateway System", and other sources such as the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and USAspending. We have also incorporated information from collaborative efforts like the Emergency Citrus Research and Extension Program (ECDRE), the Multiagency Coordination (MAC) group, and specific projects such as the "Citrus Research and Field Trials" (CRaFT). This information, which is mainly HLB-related grants, is being systematically organized for inclusion in the REON database. While particular emphasis is placed on research outcomes, general information about research projects is also being cataloged and analyzed. To date, we have curated and listed approximately 665 HLB-related grants supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Agricultural Research service (ARS), and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection service (APHIS). Data from other agencies will be incorporated as we continue to process this initial set. Text mining techniques, including frequency and cluster analysis, have been employed to analyze data collected to summarize trends, identify potential gaps, and provide guidelines for future decision-making. However, the information is heterogeneous and dispersed, complicating deeper analysis of gaps and differences. Consequently, only slight variations in the focus of grants supported by each agency have been identified. Webpage/database IT updates: In the initial phase of the project, research was conducted to identify data sources that could be extracted from existing project information. To facilitate this, an automated script was developed to collect data from ECDRE and CDRE projects from online sources. The script consolidated data such as project titles, identifiers, dates, funding amounts, investigators, approaches, impacts, and publications. Although this data set is preliminary, it provided valuable insights into project data availability. Project data has been reviewed to determine suitable database structures for implementation. This included identifying methods to represent data sources, information types, redundancies, and publications. Additionally, the development of an automated script is underway to streamline the import of project data and create associated database entities from shared spreadsheets. The resulting data structures will support customized searches within the website. The web content strategy has been evaluated to ensure alignment with the project's goals. Key considerations included segmenting content to meet the needs of different audience groups, ensuring each group receives relevant information. We have also explored branding elements to maintain a cohesive visual identity across the platform. Scalability was a priority in the initial design of the web interfaces, ensuring the platform can accommodate future growth and adapt to evolving content needs and audience demands. HLB-REON Controlled vocabulary (REON-VOC): A key component of the database is a controlled vocabulary that includes definitions of terms and procedures related to HLB, which are currently used inconsistently by growers, scientists, and other stakeholders. The goal of this initiative is to promote uniformity in the terminology, concepts and tools associated with HLB, ensuring that similar content or definitions are assigned consistent terms. This will create a standardized framework within the HLB domain, making information retrieval and cataloguing more efficient. To develop this controlled vocabulary, the REON project has adopted the guidelines set by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). AGROVOC, FAO's controlled vocabulary, is a globally recognized, multilingual open-source database that encompasses concepts, terms and definitions relevant to agricultural research. Following the AGROVOC approach, participants in this project, particularly faculty, are working together to 1. identify conflicting terms and concepts, 2. draft or revise definitions, 3. build logical relationships between these concepts, and 4. share this information with their peers to achieve consensus. These efforts aim to enrich the database and ultimately establish REON-VOC as a key reference for HLB-related terminology. Advisory growers committee: This committee aims to provide timely feedback to the REON team, ensuring guidance throughout the project's duration. The first major task involved updating the interview guide originally submitted with the project proposal, which included the IRB's approval. This guide, designed to identify knowledge gaps in research and information, has undergone several revisions and is now ready to be administered to the grower's committee, with plans to extend its use across the broader citrus production community. To address the limited demographic information on key actors and enablers in the citrus industry, a brief online survey has been developed using QualtricsXM. This survey will be implemented alongside the interviews to collect demographic data and provide deeper insights into the industry's stakeholders. To validate these materials, pilot sessions were conducted via zoom, providing valuable feedback, leading to further refinements on the methodology. To broaden the feedback scope, extension professionals from California were invited to review the survey instrument and offer their insights. The recruitment phase for study participants (committee members) is ongoing, and a cycle of interviews will begin shortly. There is a list of key outcomes and accomplishments from the initial phase of the project: Compiled and analyzed information: gathered and synthesized data on HLB USDA-funded initiatives, facilitating a comprehensive understanding of research outputs. Navigated USDA structures: gained an understanding of USDA organizational frameworks and reporting mechanisms. Established controlled vocabulary: to standardize vocabulary for HLB terminology and concepts aiming to improve communication among HLB stakeholders. Consolidated research networks: successfully reunited a diverse group of first-level researchers and universities, fostering collaboration and innovation within the HLB research community. Started the designing of the REON website/database: tailored to the needs and expectations of stakeholders, facilitating access to relevant information. Started creating a citrus growers committee: started characterizing the population, selecting the members with the guidance of extension agents in Florida, Texas and California. Crafted questionnaires: for guided interviews with committee members, aiming to gather valuable insights and perspectives. Conducted pilot tests for protocol enhancement: to refine data collection activities, with the aim of reaching a broader audience. Analyzed data: collected from USDA initiatives and stakeholder's feedback.

Publications


    Progress 09/30/22 to 09/29/23

    Outputs
    Target Audience:We have been in communication with NIFA-ECDRE administrators as part of our target audience as we work on building an initial framework for the databased we have been tasked with designing. These communications have included e-mails and video conferences with the administrators. We also wrote a short description of our project that was presented as part of a research description booklet for Florida citrus growers. We anticipate more engagement with our target audiences in the next reporting period Changes/Problems:It has been a struggle to get a program manager for this project. We hope to have someone in place by the beginning of the new year. It has also been difficult to get clear priorities from NIFA-ECDRE. This appears to be because there are many different demands on the administrators without clear priorities and guidence for them either. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?One project description published in the Citrus research summaries booklet that was distributed to citrus growers and other members of the citrus industry at Citrus expo. It is also available on demand. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue with building the database. We will start bringing together the advisory committees in earnest. We will also be making initial interviews with grower stakeholders to find what sort of information they are looking for and how best we can address these needs. We hope these needs can be relayed to NIFA-ECDRE in a way that will allow them to plan future research priorities but also inform the two extension products that we plan to develop based on grower priorities. The program manager interviews are underway and having the program manager in place should help move priorities faster.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1. We have been communicating with NIFA-ECDRE administrators as one of our stakeholders for this project to start to learn their needs in the database development. We have also been working with them to gather what on-line data sources there are to start building the databases and we are evaluating the data sources for comparible fields. We have also been contacting other USDA agencies to see what additional resources might be available in the short and medium term. Objective 2. No accomplishments to report at this time.

    Publications