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Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “HLB Management”
Michael Rogers, the director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, and some of his colleagues recently attended the Asian Citrus Congress in India. During the November All In For Citrus podcast, Rogers discusses what was learned and observed on the trip. While many of India’s citrus groves are small-scale …
By Fernando Alferez, Ute Albrecht, Ozgur Batuman, Jawwad Qureshi and Saoussen Ben Abdallah Individual protective covers (IPCs), which are psyllid-exclusion mesh bags, are increasingly being adopted to efficiently protect newly planted citrus trees from huanglongbing (HLB) infection. However, IPCs typically must be removed after two to three years due to tree growth. Early evidence indicates that brassinosteroids (Brs), a relatively …
A variety of treatments Florida citrus growers are using for HLB have so far produced mixed results, according to observations reported by Highlands County Citrus Growers Association (HCCGA) President Aaron Nelson. In a recent association newsletter, Nelson wrote that many are anxious to see harvest data showing what effects the treatments have had over the past year. The treatments he …
By Michael Rogers Much has been discussed recently about the promise and potential of utilizing CRISPR technology to create HLB-resistant trees for Florida’s citrus growers. The primary objective in citrus gene editing is to develop new varieties that are resistant to HLB disease while remaining non-transgenic. To achieve this goal, researchers make alterations to or eliminate specific genes within the …
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) provided more information about a planned Plant Transformation Center. Foremost among goals for the center is finding citrus varieties that can tolerate or resist HLB disease. UF/IFAS will utilize $2 million from an initiative by UF President Ben Sasse to create the Plant Transformation Center. The center’s objectives include: …
Fundecitrus researcher Franklin Behlau lectured about canker and HLB and participated in other ways at the recent Asian Citrus Congress in Nagpur, India. His lecture addressed the advancement of HLB (also known as greening) in the Brazilian citrus belt and the work carried out by Fundecitrus in combating HLB and canker. Behlau also moderated a technical session and participated in …
Some Florida citrus growers decided to start slowly with trunk injection of oxytetracycline (OTC), treating only a small portion of their acreage. Others took a wait-and-see approach, hoping to learn from their peers’ experiences. But Wheeler Farms went all in, treating 100% of their trees with trunk injection. “What we were doing was not working, so we needed to try …
HLB, spread by the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), has been the scariest and most destructive disease that Florida citrus growers have ever faced. So, it was fitting that entomologist Jawwad Qureshi made a virtual presentation about ACP/HLB on Halloween, often considered the scariest day of the year. Qureshi, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences associate professor, …
The search for solutions to HLB has gone on for nearly two decades. Growers and researchers have learned ways to improve nutrition programs to keep trees alive and productive, but nowhere near at the level of the days before the disease. One area of research that could yield a tree resistant to HLB is genetic engineering. There are no transgenic …
Growers have concluded their first round of injecting their citrus trees with oxytetracycline (OTC) and now are anxiously awaiting the results. So far, trees seem to be responding with larger leaves and fruit, but fruit retention will tell the story if the treatment is moving the needle against HLB. For many years, there was a perception among growers that if …
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) has been awarded five federal grants totaling more than $5 million to control HLB. The grants are from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). HLB is caused by the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas). The Asian citrus psyllid can transmit CLas into a …
The governor of Brazil’s state of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, on Oct. 16 decreed the formation of a state committee for greening contingency after meeting with several members of the state’s citrus industry. Greening affects 38.06% of orange trees in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The governor acted after considerations by the Sylvio Moreira Citriculture Center/Agronomic …
Recently, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) declared an HLB quarantine in Ventura County following the first detections of the disease in the county. In response, the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program (CPDPP) issued a list of HLB resources. The resources are intended to help inform the citrus industry about what changes to expect from the quarantine, …
By Ariel Singerman Citrus growers in Florida are now allowed to inject their trees with oxytetracycline (OTC) to try to control Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and/or suppress citrus greening. The use of OTC is expected to improve the trees’ health and, in turn, increase yield. In this article, cost estimates are used to address the question of what yield response is …
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) has invested more than $25 million in 11 projects as part of the Emergency Citrus Disease Research & Extension program. This program brings the nation’s top scientists together with citrus industry representatives to find scientifically sound solutions that combat and prevent citrus greening (HLB) at the farm level. Some of this …
Fundecitrus recently launched the institutional awareness-raising film Urgência as yet another part of the Greening Is Serious campaign. The campaign began in January last year. In the film, 10 representatives of the citrus sector talk about the economic, social, environmental and historical dimensions of citrus growing in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. They point out everything that is at risk …
By Ute Albrecht The German scientist Paul Ehrlich pioneered the research for “magic bullets” — chemicals that could kill a microorganism but did not harm the patient. He also coined the term “chemotherapy” and paved the way for developing synthetic drugs. The first synthetic antibiotic (the first sulfa-type antibiotic) to successfully treat human bacterial diseases without major side effects was …
The Citrus Research and Field Trial (CRAFT) board of directors and staff are pleased to announce that the application for Cycle 5 of the CRAFT new tree planting program is now available online. Any interested commercial grower in Florida has until 5:00 p.m. on Nov. 30 to apply. The CRAFT board of directors, with the help of the Technical Working …
Representatives of the Brazilian private citrus sectors of São Paulo and Minas Gerais met Sept. 25 with members of São Paulo’s government to formulate joint action plans against citrus greening disease. Representing the private sector in the meeting were Fundecitrus, Brazilian Table Citrus Association, Vivecitrus, Citrus Consultants Group and Technical Assistance and Consultancy Group in Citrus. The government of the …
By Ute Albrecht and Leigh Archer Trunk injection is an alternative technique for applying crop protection materials. This technology has now been approved to deliver oxytetracycline (OTC) for huanglongbing (HLB) management in Florida. Injections cause injury, and best practices need to be established to minimize injection-induced tree damage. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers (UF/IFAS) injected …
