ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Florida is getting $9 million to study the citrus greening disease.
The $9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to the Citrus Research and Development Foundation in Lake Alfred, Fla.
The Lake Alfred research project is working to halt greening by stopping the ability of insects to spread the disease from infected trees to healthy ones.
Citrus greening is a bacterial disease that can weaken a tree's productivity. By some estimates, it has cost Florida $3.6 billion in lost orange juice production and jobs.