As oxytetracycline (OTC) trunk injection becomes an important tool for managing HLB, researchers are looking for ways to make the labor-intensive treatment faster, more efficient and less expensive.
Part of a research paper published in Tropical Plant Pathology discusses an automated trunk-injection system being developed for HLB-affected citrus. The authors of the paper, titled “Integrated pest management strategies to address HLB: emerging approaches for Florida citrus sustainability,” are Lauren Fessler Mathews, Sanju Kunwar, Ana Redondo, Yiannis Ampatzidis and Ozgur Batuman, all with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
OTC injections have shown promise in improving the health and productivity of HLB-affected trees. But treating large numbers of trees requires considerable labor. The researchers note that labor can account for more than 50% of OTC injection costs, making automation potentially important for the economics of the treatment.
A prototype uses a needle-based injection system mounted on a farm vehicle. Instead of workers manually drilling holes, attaching injectors and monitoring individual trees, the automated system uses a telescoping mechanism to position needles against the trunk to deliver the treatment.
The system is designed to be operated by one person, potentially reducing the number of workers needed to treat a grove. It also can inject from both sides of a tree at the same time. The two-sided application could address another challenge with trunk injections: sectoring. With a single injection point, the treatment may not spread evenly throughout the tree, leaving some portions with less of the product. The researchers say simultaneous injection from opposite sides could help improve distribution.
Speed is another potential advantage. The automated system is designed to deliver the material within seconds, which could reduce concerns about OTC solution degrading before it is injected. The system also eliminates the need to manually drill each tree.
The technology is still being optimized, particularly for injection pressure and overall efficiency, so it is not yet a finished production solution.
For growers, however, the research points toward an important direction: making HLB treatments easier to scale. As OTC injection programs expand, reducing the labor and time required to treat each tree could become just as important as improving the treatment itself.
The automated system is one part of a broader HLB research pipeline that also includes antimicrobial peptides, resistant citrus and new approaches for controlling the Asian citrus psyllid.
See the full paper here.
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