Christine Keith/The Arizona Republic
Ruben Villegas (left) and Maria Mexia pick some
midseason oranges at the University of Arizona
Citrus Research Center in Waddell.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/westvalley/articles/2009/02/13/20090213gl-nwvcitrus0214.html
UA to close citrus research center in West Valley
by Lesley Wright - Feb. 13, 2009 10:26 AM
The Arizona Republic
The University of Arizona's first citrus research ranch in the Valley sprouted lemons and oranges on land that lies under the Arizona Mills mall. The second, just outside Surprise in Waddell, is falling victim to the bad economy.
The ranch will close this summer, which is a sad surprise to James Truman, the fourth-generation Arizona citrus farmer who has managed the university's Citrus Agricultural Center in Waddell since 1988.
"The face of this community is changing fairly rapidly," he said. "In my opinion, not necessarily in a good way."
Over the past 25 years, he and another employee have nurtured 40 acres of groves that include varieties of oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, grapes, lemons, berries, peaches and more. The center's research helped the once-thriving industry that made up one of the state's historic five "C's" - the others are cotton, copper, cattle and climate.
Research is geared toward helping the state's dwindling citrus industry - finding new varieties, more efficient irrigation methods, better fertilization and figuring longer maturation periods.
"We tried to do anything that might increase their bottom lines," Truman said.
When fruit is harvested, the researchers swoop in and scan, weigh the fruit to figure production per tree, size, weight, acidity, skin thickness and sugar. Once the researchers take what they need, the fruit is sold to local markets, swap meets and little fruit stands. There is not enough product to contract with one big market.
The university hopes to save about $170,000 by closing the center in June, part of the massive budget cuts going on in higher education across the state.
"It's one of their least expensive operations to run," Truman said. "But they're desperate. They're really desperate."
The center was not helped over the years by the loss of thousands of nearby acres of citrus to Fulton Homes, which recently filed for bankruptcy.
What is left of the citrus trade is more active near Yuma, where the university has two of eight remaining agricultural research centers.
"The citrus industry in the Phoenix area has decreased tremendously," said Colin Kaltenbach, vice dean and director of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at UA. "We're growing PVC pipe out there instead of citrus trees. It's very sad."
Truman bears all the appearances of a longtime Arizonan with his jeans, cowboy shirt and felt hat. His father started growing citrus on the nearby family farm in the 1930s and Truman intends to nurture what is left of the citrus fields when he retires in a few years.
In the meantime, he has agreed to take a post in the university's extension office. But that means leaving his little pocket of rural life for an urban office at 43rd Place and Broadway Road. He is not sure if it will work.
"It depends on if I can tolerate being around all those people," Truman said. "As you can tell, I live a pretty isolated life."
The center's landowner, the Maricopa Water District, will try to lease it out as a commercial operation, but Truman doubts it'll have much luck, given its size. The district has development plans filed with Surprise, but those plans were to be years away, even if the housing market had not collapsed.
"We were thinking about moving it in a couple of years anyway," Truman said of the center. "I wasn't anticipating having the hammer drop down on me."
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More on this topic
About the shutdown
The University of Arizona Citrus Agricultural Research Center will shut down its 40-acre ranch in Waddell in June to help meet the demands for massive budget cuts. The citrus farm, just outside of Surprise, is the last citrus research center in the Valley. James Truman, a fourth-generation Arizonan, has managed the farm since 1988.
What is it?
The Waddell citrus center, one of nine experimental research centers in the state run by UA, opened in 1987. The university's remaining citrus center is in Yuma. A much larger citrus farm in Tempe closed in 1983 and eventually became the site of the Arizona Mills mall.
Why is it closing?
The university is closing the farm because of drastic budget cuts and a declining citrus industry in the Valley. Citrus production has fallen dramatically in Phoenix and surrounding areas.
What happens next?
The land will revert to the Maricopa Water District, which eventually hopes to develop it.
