While everyone strives to protect themselves from coronavirus disease, growers have an additional concern: protecting their trees from citrus disease. While HLB is of course the most damaging disease of citrus, there are other diseases that should not be overlooked. Disease management is the theme of the February 2021 issue of Citrus Industry magazine.
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) plant pathologist Megan Dewdney gives her annual outlook on what foliar citrus diseases might appear this season. She discusses citrus canker, greasy spot, melanose, black spot and postbloom fruit drop (PFD) in her article. Find out which diseases are more likely to occur and how best to treat them.
UF/IFAS authors Amit Levy, Peggy Sieburth and Ozgur Batuman address stem pitting disease caused by citrus tristeza virus (CTV) in their February article. The bad news is that mild to moderate stem pitting is present in grapefruit and sweet oranges in Florida. The good news is that CTV isolates that cause severe stem pitting have not been detected in Florida yet. Learn more about this complex disease and how it is transmitted.
In the Extension Connection column, citrus agent Chris Oswalt provides information on three useful computer models that can help growers improve disease management. The Flower Bud Induction Advisory service assists growers with decision-making on PFD and Asian citrus psyllid sprays. The Citrus Advisory System predicts the risk for PFD and indicates when fungicidal applications would be most warranted to protect bloom and fruit set. Finally, the Citrus Copper Application Scheduler helps growers determine the need for applications of copper fungicides for fresh fruit fungal diseases and citrus canker.
Fewer pests will lead to less disease. In her CEU Central article, Extension agent Ajia Paolillo discusses the goals of pest management. She covers three objectives of pest management: prevention, eradication and suppression. Take and pass the test at the end of the article to earn one continuing education unit in the Core category for the Florida restricted-use pesticide license. Need more Core CEUs? You can get them here.
Find all these articles and more in the February issue of Citrus Industry magazine, coming soon.
Subscribe to Citrus Industry here.
Sponsored Content