The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $13.6 million more to citrus greening research projects, part of a program that U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, worked to include in the 2014 farm bill.

The effort, called the Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program, recently doled out the money to four entities — none based in Florida:

•Clemson University in Clemson, S.C., $4.2 million to study citrus greening resistant plants.

•Regents of the University of California, Riverside, Calif., $5.1 million to develop a cure for citrus greening.

•Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, $2.4 million to study toxins that attack citrus greening.

The lawsuit only pertains to Spectrum’s roughly 2.5 million New York Internet customers. (Feb. 7, 2017)

The lawsuit only pertains to Spectrum’s roughly 2.5 million New York Internet customers. (Feb. 7, 2017)

The lawsuit only pertains to Spectrum’s roughly 2.5 million New York Internet customers. (Feb. 7, 2017)

The lawsuit only pertains to Spectrum’s roughly 2.5 million New York Internet customers. (Feb. 7, 2017)

Like many other grocery chains, customers at Publix could get a slice of deli meat on the house while the deli employee tested the thickness of the meat.

Like many other grocery chains, customers at Publix could get a slice of deli meat on the house while the deli employee tested the thickness of the meat.

According to a lawsuit filed by the FTC and the New Jersey attorney general's office, Vizio was capturing “second-by-second information” about what people viewed and selling it to companies that do targeted advertising. (Feb. 7, 2017)

According to a lawsuit filed by the FTC and the New Jersey attorney general's office, Vizio was capturing “second-by-second information” about what people viewed and selling it to companies that do targeted advertising. (Feb. 7, 2017)

Redfin predicted three Orlando-area neighborhoods would be the “hottest” and most sought after this year based on the number of page views and the times someone saved a house listing as a favorite during recent months.

Redfin predicted three Orlando-area neighborhoods would be the “hottest” and most sought after this year based on the number of page views and the times someone saved a house listing as a favorite during recent months.

•The USDA Agricultural Research Service, Athens, Ga., $1.8 million to study chemotherapy for citrus greening.

"Finding a cure for this destructive disease is vital to maintaining a strong economy and protecting jobs here in Southwest Florida," Buchanan said.

Citrus greening has spread to all 32 citrus-growing counties across the state within just two years. The bacterial disease infects and later kills trees that produce green, misshapen and bitter fruit. There is no known cure.

Experts projected a 26 percent decline in Florida's signature orange crop for the 2016-2017 season, the worst in more than 50 years.

TALLAHASSEE — Florida's struggling citrus industry, already on a path for its worst growing season in decades, saw a slight dip in the latest forecast for orange and grapefruit harvests.

As growers continue to battle the devastating impacts of citrus greening disease, the downward projections in...

TALLAHASSEE — Florida's struggling citrus industry, already on a path for its worst growing season in decades, saw a slight dip in the latest forecast for orange and grapefruit harvests.

As growers continue to battle the devastating impacts of citrus greening disease, the downward projections in...

According to a University of Florida study four years ago, the disease already had caused more than $4 billion in economic damage, eliminating 8,000 jobs. Florida Citrus Mutual, a citrus trade association, estimates that those numbers have doubled since then.

Bipartisan efforts in Congress in 2014 secured $125 million to combat citrus greening as part of the five-year farm bill that President Obama later signed into law. The legislation also authorized the disbursement of up to $125 million in discretionary funding over five years to combat this disease.

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