EREC establishes fund to honor Everglades agriculturalists
Click here to see pictures from the inaugural banquet
The efforts of four of the most accomplished Everglades agriculturalists in IFAS' history will be remembered for years to come thanks to a new multi-million dollar fund-raising effort established in their name by the Everglades agricultural community.
Emil Wolf, Victor Guzman, Joe Orsenigo and George Snyder may be retired, but their impacts on agriculture last to this day. The EREC Emeritus Endowment honors those efforts by funding research for emerging and immediate problems that affect local growers.
EREC held a banquet May 15th in Belle Glade to inaugurate the endowment and honor the four agricultural researchers.
Emil Wolf is perhaps best known for his research with the shrunken 2 gene and the development of “Florida Staysweet” and other sweet corn varieties that were not only sweeter but also had a longer shelf life. His accomplishments revolutionized the sweet corn industry in the 80s.
Victor Guzman is unofficially dubbed Florida’s “Lettuce King” by many lettuce producers for his nutritional research and plant breeding programs. This work produced several varieties of lettuce that have become commercially successful in Florida’s organic soils. At the age of 93, Guzman continues his research projects at the EREC.
Joe Orsenigo spent much of his career developing better weed identification and herbicide application methods. Florida sugarcane crops are not only more plentiful today because of his work, but the techniques used to keep weeds away from them are also environmentally friendly.
And last, but not least, George Snyder is a renowned authority on soil subsidence and is often requested to speak about soil conditions of the EAA. His work on silicon nutrition helped commercialize the Florida rice industry, and he continues to play a vital role in the development of Florida’s turfgrass industry.
Click here to check out the EREC website
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George Snyder
