High Tech Industry

Agritechnology

The thriving agricultural industry in the 23 counties has evolved with the latest technologies for food production and growth.  In addition to supplying a dependable and safe food supply using modern production and delivery methods, the agricultural sector now services portions of other high tech industries including biotechnology and sustainable energy.

Dr. Dennis Steindler“By genetically engineering tobacco and lettuce plants, we’ve created vaccines for malaria, cholera, anthrax and the plague as a cheap alternative to injectable vaccines.  You grow the plants and then convert them into orally administered capsules.”

Dr. Henry Daniell, UCF Pegasus Professor and Director of the Daniell Lab for Molecular Biotechnology Research

One contributor to advances in the agritechnology industry is the University of Florida’s (UF) nationally recognized Institute of Food and Agricultural Science, the federal-state-county partnership that pioneers research into food safety and transportation, pesticide alternatives and even biofuels.

Florida’s 47,000 commercial farms are among the most productive in the world, using the latest technology to deliver large majorities of food sources (more than 70 percent of total U.S. citrus production comes from Florida) while utilizing new technologies to turn byproducts into fuel sources, such as UF’s initiative with American Crystal Sugar for sugar beet biogasification.

The Corridor remains an agricultural powerhouse in the state, with Hillsborough and Polk counties accounting for 12 counties of total agricultural sales.  Complete with resources and research invested in this field, the Corridor presents the ideal location for the growing field of agritechnology to thrive.