There has been quite a bit of interest in the Citrus Research and Field Trials (CRAFT) program. During the Florida Citrus Show held in Fort Pierce in late January, a panel of citrus growers discussed projects they have been approved to conduct under CRAFT.
Tamara Wood, executive director of the CRAFT Foundation, moderated the panel and provided an update on program participation. She says demand for applications to participate in the program has been strong. The program provides a per-acre payment to help growers with the cost of new plantings and experimental design.
“Our initial goal was to plant 5,000 acres of citrus over two years and to use those plantings to trial various experiments on HLB mitigation and treatments,” Woods said. “In cycles one and two, we received 143 applications. Of those, we have just over 100 contracts in place that represent more than 4,600 acres and 850,000 new citrus trees in the ground. Eighty-four percent of our current projects are solid-set plantings, while the other 16% are resets.”
The third cycle of applications closed in October 2021. There were 83 applications to participate in this round. Wood noted funding limitations will put some of the applicants on a waitlist. The goal for approved projects is to have trees planted by December 2022.
Ron Mahan of Tamiami Citrus says his company has had a number of projects approved for CRAFT plantings. One is a trial comparing the new cultivars OLL-4 and B9-65. Another project will be evaluating the impact of brassinosteroid applications on young plantings. The brassinosteroids have been shown to protect plants from various stresses and improve overall health.
Daniel Scott of Scott Citrus Management told attendees he thinks CRAFT has real potential.
“I think this is an extremely important program that will allow us to look at these trial variables at multiple locations throughout the state,” he said. “Hopefully, we can get some more answers that can be made available to the entire growing community and help our industry to be more sustainable. We can learn things faster rather than just waiting for the research community to come to us. CRAFT allows growers to become bigger participants in the research.”
Scott has one project funded comparing Star Ruby and Flame grapefruit on combinations of US-942 and Super Sour 3 rootstocks. Another project will evaluate the performance of a woven polymer ground cover on young plantings. Cover crops are being evaluated in an additional project.
Larry Black of Peace River Packing said his company has seen success in recent years with newly planted trees. He is interested in learning more about newer rootstocks’ performance with Valencia. The company secured funding for a project to compare Valencia on US-942 and US-812.
Another project will evaluate using acidification to maintain soil pH in an optimal range of 5.8 to 6.0. The trial will compare various strategies on four 20-acre blocks of citrus.
Wood noted the CRAFT Foundation and industry would be seeking funding for a fourth cycle of plantings and projects. Growers interested in the program should visit the CRAFT website.
Share this Post
About the Author
Sponsored Content