TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida scientists are using a 3D printer to create a sort of hi-tech fly trap that could help save the state's multi-billion dollar citrus industry from a deadly bacterial disease known as citrus greening.
Scientists at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services used a 3D printer to create a trap that will catch and study the Asian citrus psyllid, which carries the bacterial disease decimating Florida's citrus groves. Thanks to the printer, researchers can easily adjust the trap's shape, color, lights and chemicals to better attract the psyllid.
The state received a five-year, $200,000 grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture allowing them to deploy and test the SmartTraps in California and Texas to prevent a similar crisis.
Citrus greening disease begins in the root and starves the tree of nutrients, eventually killing the tree.
