Megan Dewdney
Jim Graham
Megan Dewdney and Jim Graham with University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have developed a suggested use pattern for the three antibacterial products that were recently allowed for use on citrus under a Crisis Declaration by Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam. The new document, titled “Suggested Antibiotic Use Pattern for Huanglongbing Management,” was put together based on the proposed label and the crisis declaration. Click here to view the document.
The commissioner’s Crisis Declaration is to be considered the label and should be followed as a legal document just like a label. Growers must have a copy of the Crisis Declaration with them when applying the products. Please pay strict attention to the preharvest intervals and minimum retreatment intervals. This is particularly important for the late-season-maturing citrus varieties.
The new document includes information on: use pattern for different harvest dates, label limit details, product rates by volume and personal protective equipment. Please note that for rotational purposes and use limits, there is no difference between the two formulations of oxytetracycline.
There are many questions, but limited information is available. The UF/IFAS researchers suggest contacting the registrants for clarification on questions like which adjuvants to use as they had not been provided with data to answer those types of questions.