The Florida Research Center for Agricultural Sustainability, Inc. (FlaRes) researches and demonstrates sustainable agricultural practices that are economically and environmentally efficient and which help to reduce growers' dependence on non-renewable resources. The center is located on 35 acres of citrus groves in Florida's Indian River Citrus District. The FlaRes staff works with local growers and government agencies to promote sustainable agricultural practices. They also develop techniques in foliar fertilization and test alternate methods of insect control such as growth regulators, attractants, parasites, and natural predators.

Foliar fertilization has the potential to provide many benefits to growers both now and into the future. The Indian River Lagoon is an estuary of national significance, and water quality issues are becoming increasingly important. Nutrients in surface water runoff and nitrate leaching can affect water quality and upset the balance of this sensitive ecosystem. The FlaRes actively studies methods of foliar application of nutrients and growth enhancing natural products to help reduce the need for ground applied fertilizers in an effort to address these problems.

Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia rufilabris) eggs being applied to citrus trees for Brown Citrus Aphid control using prototype sprayer.

FlaRes continually tests new methods of insect control and is active in working towards eradicating Diaprepes and other pests of Florida citrus. Examples include the use of Neem Seed Extract (a source of an insect growth regulator), the use of attractants and repellents, the use of entomopathogens such as nematodes and fungi as well as natural insect predators and parasitoids. Advances in biotechnology have made many of these methods much more economical and therefore more attractive to growers than ever before.

FlaRes is active in outreach, presenting the results of its work at grower conferences and seminars. Fact sheets are also prepared for interested growers on various topics. The station cooperates with growers, agricultural companies, government agencies, private institutions, and others on most of its research and demonstration projects. The FlaRes is always interested in new products, equipment, and techniques that potentially have a place in sustainable agriculture. The FlaRes' goal is to significantly contribute to a sustainable future for agriculture. Through research, education, and partnership with the community this goal can be achieved.

Station Director Robert Adair standing next to a Neem Tree (Azadirachta indica) multi-cropped with citrus trees.

FlaRes monitors the numbers of Diaprepes root weevils at its groves in Vero Beach. Two graphs have been created to chart these numbers. One counts the weekly abundance of Diaprepes. The other compares the numbers of Diaprepes from month to month from 1996 to the present. Click here to view Diaprepes Emergence Graphs.

The Sustainable Citrus Program Demonstration Grove at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

The Florida Research Center for Agricultural Sustainability (FlaRes) has developed and is implementing a Sustainable Citrus Program (SCP) for the citrus groves located within the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) for the United States Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The primary goal of the SCP is to reduce the impact of agricultural chemicals and practices used in the MINWR citrus groves to the adjacent waters of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) System. The SCP at the MINWR citrus groves allows the grove management practices to meet the current Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) requirement to eliminate the use of toxic or environmentally harmful pesticides on national wildlife refuges. In particular, the environmental benefits of the SCP addresses the EPA’s National Estuary Program and State of Florida’s Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program goals to attain and maintain water and sediment of sufficient quality to support a functioning macrophyte-based ecosystem that supports endangered and threatened species, fisheries and wildlife.

The implementation of a sustainable agricultural system that is inherently environmentally benign is of utmost importance to the "sustainability" of the MINWR in view of the nine threatened species and sixteen endangered species of flora and fauna located within its confines. The second goal of the SCP is to demonstrate the economic and agricultural feasibility of sustainable agricultural practices in citrus groves on a commercial scale. The challenge is that the management program for these citrus groves must be economically viable to assure continued agricultural activity into the future. Perhaps the greatest benefit to be derived from this program will be its potential incorporation by citrus growers throughout the state of Florida, thereby effecting a tremendous impact on the environment statewide.

Click here for a more detailed Description of the SCP.

To find out about the fruits of the Sustainable Citrus Program Click here: FLARES Citrus