UC Riverside receives more than $4 million for avocado anti-fungus research

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - UC Riverside received more than $4 million in federal funds to research methods of shielding avocados from a fungus that can be devastating to crops in California and elsewhere, it was announced Thursday, Dec. 10.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the university a $4.4 million grant as part of its National Institute of Food & Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative, with the goal of promoting development of next-generation methods of protecting orchards from Laurel Wilt, a fungus introduced by the non-native redbay ambrosia beetle.

``When the beetle attacks, t...