Pruning is an efficient strategy to improve citrus greening disease management in Brazil’s Citrus Belt, but requires appropriate procedures and attention from the grower, Embrapa and Fundecitrus researchers reported recently.
Embrapa researcher Eduardo Girardi said an orange tree could produce normally without the need for pruning “if the orange tree has no restrictions on its growth.” Without growth restrictions, Girardi said, “it is a tree that can exceed five meters in height and will grow gradually over time. Without restrictions, it can produce and bear fruit abundantly. In theory, it would not even need to be pruned. However, these trees are managed within a commercial orchard spaced between each other, between rows and between plants within each row, so pruning is necessary for you to create an organized commercial orchard aimed at productivity.”
Girardi said pruning requires care because the tree’s shoots attract more psyllids, which spread citrus greening disease.
Fundecitrus post-doctoral fellow Deived Carvalho
said pruning brings internal and external benefits to the fruit. “There are several benefits that the pruning technique can bring, from eliminating diseased branches to improving the quality of the fruit,” Carvalho said. “With pruning, I can open my canopy and have greater solar irradiation, which will consequently improve the physical and internal quality, the color of the fruit, and the concentration of sugars in the fruit.”
Learn more about the benefits of pruning citrus trees in Brazil here. Pruning is also an important grove practice in Florida; learn more.
Source: Fundecitrus
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