Research Projects

Ag and food waste are rich in energy, water, and nutrients. We can convert waste into valuable by-products that promote a circular economy within agri-food systems while diverting waste from landfills. Our project evaluates how agricultural and food waste can be transformed into valuable by-products like biochar (From almond waste) and Bokashi (From several Ag & food wastes). Farmers face challenges of disease, climate stress, and rising costs. We developed a project that utilizes these by-products to enhance soil carbon sequestration and support the native soil and plant microbiome, improving soil and plant health and resilience. Our methods include amending soil mixes and utilizing irrigation systems in greenhouses and fields to showcase the potential for soil carbon enhancement and the positive effects on plant vitality.
We aim to demonstrate these sustainable practices' environmental and economic benefits, along with education and outreach to encourage farmer adoption. This initiative represents a significant step towards sustainable farming, leveraging waste to create effective soil amendments for a more resilient agricultural future.

The Citrus Clonal Protection Program (CCPP) provides disease-free citrus propagative materials to support California's citrus industry. They are validating a modular plant growth unit (MPGU) made from a recycled shipping container designed for citrus to increase CCPP's plant production capacity. This project aims to optimize disease symptom expression for citrus diagnostics and research on graft-transmissible diseases bioindexing. The project aims to increase the volume of citrus plants for CCPP disease testing, therapy, and budwood sources and reduce production time for disease-free citrus varieties. More importantly, the project will allow the creation of automated and sustainable citrus nursery technologies that growers can adopt and use less space, energy,  fertilizer, and water, but that also reduce environmental impact.

At LabToFarm, we’re cultivating tomorrow’s agriculture leaders by empowering young people and underserved communities through hands-on, real-world training. Seeding Success brings together University of California, Riverside researchers, educators, and industry experts to offer interactive modules in Sustainable Agri-Food Systems and Circular Economy, alongside topics like soil management, water-efficient irrigation, and pest control. This initiative prepares participants to tackle today’s agricultural challenges and launch meaningful careers in specialty crop farming. By blending cutting-edge research with immersive field experiences, Seeding Success paves the way for equitable, climate-smart agriculture and fosters long-lasting economic and environmental impact in California and beyond.

The Citrus Clonal Protection Program at UC Riverside is at the forefront of citrus innovation, ensuring that California’s $3.6 billion citrus industry remains productive and disease-free. By providing pathogen-tested budwood and pioneering advanced diagnostics, CCPP addresses emerging threats like Huanglongbing (HLB) and other destructive pathogens, supporting thousands of growers and nursery operations statewide.

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Driving Citrus Innovation

• Optimized Diagnostics & Quarantine Protocols
  Streamlining pathogen detection with real-time multiplex assays and in planta bioindexing.

• Controlled Environment Agriculture 
  Adopting advanced indoor systems to rapidly grow containerized citrus plants under ideal conditions.

• RNA-Based Disease Management
  Investigating next-generation strategies to combat HLB and other pathogens, ultimately enhancing tree health in dense planting systems.

Impact & Collaboration

With support from industry partners—including the California Citrus Research Board, California Citrus Nursery Board and the National Clean Plant Network—CCPP’s integrated approach has direct benefits for over 2,500 citrus growers and 7,000 industry stakeholders. Through workshops, field days, and cutting-edge technology transfer, this research fuels job creation, nursery improvements, and global recognition of California as a leader in sustainable citrus agriculture.

Visit our Bioengineering page, where we delve into pioneering technologies that are shaping the future of agriculture. Here, we showcase Dr. Borneman’s groundbreaking work applying advanced metabolic modeling to develop more resilient citrus varieties. By integrating computational biology with practical field research, these projects aim to:

• Accelerate the Citrus Engineering Process Pioneering methods to streamline plant transformation and CRISPR-based editing for faster crop improvements.

• Enhance Drought Tolerance Utilizing metabolic models to create specialty crop varieties that can thrive under water-scarce conditions.

• Combat Devastating Diseases like HLB Adopting model-driven approaches to understand “Survivor Trees” in Florida and engineer new disease-resistant citrus.

• Leverage Systems Biology for Targeted Solutions
  Designing antimicrobial peptides and other advanced tools to detect, inhibit, or eliminate pathogens at the molecular level.

The Bigger Picture

These efforts aim not only to improve yields, quality, and sustainability for California’s specialty crops but also to serve as a blueprint for other agricultural sectors. By bridging cutting-edge metabolic modeling with real-world agricultural needs, we are ushering in a new era of sustainable and resilient farming.

As the HLB citrus disease becomes more widespread, it is crucial to detect it early and accurately. Unfortunately, current detection methods such as qPCR have limitations in the volume of plant tissue that can be sampled, leading to undersampling and under-testing for the bacteria causing the disease. Plus, the sporadic distribution of infected leaves and high labor and equipment costs make it difficult to scale up existing methods.

To address these challenges, Technology Evolving Solutions (TES) and Citrus Clonal Protection Program (CCPP) have collaborated to create the Budwood Tissue Extractor (BTE), a novel, specialized instrument that processes citrus budwood bark tissues rapidly. This innovative tool helps to resolve the labor-intensive sample preparation methods while offering a higher-throughput, more cost-effective solution.

The BTE marks a significant advancement in citrus disease detection, demonstrating the potential to enhance sample throughput and reduce equipment costs in citrus diagnostic labs. The rapid plant tissue processing protocol and BTE can benefit several citrus diagnostic laboratories and programs in California and serve as a model system for tissue processing in other woody perennial crops worldwide.

California's farms are famous for their specialty crops like citrus, avocados, and grapes. But, these vital crops are under threat from diseases like Huanglongbing (also known as citrus greening) and curly top virus, putting the future of California's agriculture at risk. To tackle this, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, are working on an innovative project. They're developing a new tool that makes it easier to collect genetic material from plants right in the field. This tool will help farmers and scientists quickly detect diseases and the tiny organisms that cause them, including bacteria, viruses, and viroids.

The team, led by Professor Hideaki Tsutsui is putting this device to the test on three major crops and against three types of pathogens to ensure it works well. They'll validate its performance using advanced lab tests to confirm it can accurately identify infected plants. This isn't just about creating a tool; it's about bringing it into the hands of those who need it most. The project includes training for farmers and others in the agriculture sector, using presentations and hands-on workshops at local events and through a dedicated website. This effort aims to safeguard California's agriculture by ensuring crops stay healthy and productive for years to come.

A USDA APHIS-funded initiative led by UC Riverside, this multi-state project unites citrus nursery professionals, researchers, and policymakers to streamline best practices, promote disease-free propagative material, and drive sustainable innovations in indoor citrus production. By building an interactive online hub—in partnership with the newly formed National Citrus Nursery Association (NCNA)—we’re fostering collaboration, education, and coordinated advocacy that will reshape the future of citrus nurseries from California to Florida and beyond.