Citrus growers in California can enroll in a program that provides up to $200,000 for projects to foster climate resilience and long-term sustainability.
Program activities include webinars, technical assistance, transition services and financial incentives to support the adoption of healthy soil management practices such as cover cropping, conservation cover, reduced tillage, whole orchard recycling, nutrient management and pollinator-friendly hedgerow plants, according to a news release.
The project will focus on social equality, with a target on socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, women, veterans and more.
“Our goal at the California Bountiful Foundation is to make it very easy for citrus growers to enter into the program and implement healthy soil management practices,” Amrith Gunasekara, director of the California Bountiful Foundation, said in the release. “We see ourselves as a one-stop shop where citrus growers will get a very high degree of service through this program.”
The funding is part of a $5 million Healthy Soils Program Block Grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture to the California Bountiful Foundation, the California Citrus Quality Council and Xerces Society.
The program will support 20 to 45 projects over three years for farmers in Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Tulare, San Diego, Placer and Ventura counties, the release said.
“In supporting our growers with conservation expertise and financial support, we are setting the stage for sustaining agriculture and building a resilient citrus industry for well into the future,” California Farm Bureau Shannon Douglass said in the release.
