Fundecitrus Participates in Argentine Citriculture Congress

Josh McGill International, Research

Specialists from Brazil’s Fundecitrus recently participated in the Argentine Citriculture Congress in Concordia, Argentina. They were among more than 400 at the event. Participants included producers, researchers and students.

Argentine Citriculture Congress
Renato Bassanezi gave the opening presentation at the event.

Fundecitrus researcher Renato Bassanezi gave the opening lecture on epidemiology and management of greening in Brazil. He also participated in a round table discussion on the current status of advances in research and diseases of regulated citrus for export of fresh fruit. Black spot, citrus canker and greening were addressed.

Bassanezi said the increase in greening has worried Argentine citrus growers. Greening was detected in eastern Argentina in 2012 and is present in the provinces of Misiones, Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Corrientes and Entre Ríos.

“Producers need to intensify joint management to avoid spreading to orchards and the severe damage caused by the disease,” Bassanezi said.

Fundecitrus researcher Silvio Lopes gave a lecture on the evolution and current situation of citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC) and greening in Brazil.

“Participating in the congress was important for exchanging experience and knowledge with specialists, mainly representatives from Argentina,” Lopes said. “We addressed different topics, such as sanitary, phytotechnical and commercial difficulties in growing lemons in the northwest of the country and tangerines in the Concordia region. The impact of climate on the expression of greening symptoms in orange and pomelo plants and on the psyllid population in that region of the neighboring country and north of Uruguay were also discussed.”

Fundecitrus agronomist Talita Alves dos Santos presented a study on the potential use of biological products to control citrus canker.

Fundecitrus biologist Rosana Gonçalves Pereira spoke on the topic of susceptibility of orange fruits with different levels of terpenes to citrus canker and black spot.

The researchers visited orchards and a packinghouse in the Entre Ríos region of Argentina and the National Institute of Agricultural Research in Salto, Uruguay. In Uruguay, greening was recently detected in the far north. Ways to prevent the spread of the disease to other commercial regions of both countries were discussed.

Researchers from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Cuba, Spain and Uruguay participated in the Argentine Citriculture Congress.

Source: Fundecitrus

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