By Len Wilcox The wettest year in recent history is bringing relief to California growers. The relief may be short-lived, however, unless state water officials make permanent changes in water management and address the supply shortfall during drought years. A new executive order has been issued by the state to improve conservation measures and water-management procedures. The short-term outlook is …
Insight on Improved Management of HLB-Affected Trees
Recent studies shed light on foliar nutrient and irrigation practices. By Kelly T. Morgan and Said Hamido Most citrus growers are well aware that citrus greening (HLB) is one of the most devastating citrus diseases in many parts of the world. The disease is widespread in Florida, Texas, Brazil, Mexico and other major production areas, causing significant concerns about the …
CREC and FDOC: Decades of Working Together
As the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) celebrates its 100th anniversary, administrators are praising a decades-long relationship between researchers with CREC and the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC). “Housing the FDOC and CREC scientists at the same location has brought together the expertise needed to address any issue facing the …
Why Bicarbonates Matter for HLB Management
By Jim Graham and Kelly Morgan Huanglongbing (HLB), greening and yellow shoot are names for the most devastating citrus disease in the world. Symptoms of HLB include a distinctive chlorotic mottle on fully expanded leaves. Infected shoots are stunted, and branches gradually die back as the symptoms appear in other sectors of the tree canopy. HLB reduces fruit size, weight …
From HLB Grower Day: Cutting Psyllid Control Costs
Approximately 200 Florida citrus industry members attended the HLB Grower Day on April 21 at the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in Lake Alfred. Speakers summarized scientific presentations made at a recent international HLB research conference. Michael Rogers, an entomologist and director of the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences CREC, discussed control of the Asian citrus …
Controlled-Release Fertilizer Boosts Health of HLB Trees (Part 1)
By Pete Spyke, Joby Sherrod and Jude Grosser Editor’s note: Look for part 2 of this article in the May 2017 issue of Citrus Industry magazine. Part 2 will present case studies using controlled-release fertilizer. Until now, most growers have considered controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) to be primarily for use on young trees, especially resets in existing groves. There is increasing …
Captain, We Have a Problem: the Juice Stocks!
By Marcos Fava Neves The new figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture released in March showed a small drop in the Florida orange estimate from 70 million to 67 million boxes. In February, the Brazilian orange estimate announced by Fundecitrus stayed the same, at approximately 244 million boxes. Oranges in Brazil currently contain a lot of water, with almost …
What Growers Say and Hear at Mutual Meetings
Florida Citrus Mutual has been cooking for its grower members, hearing what’s on their minds and telling what the association is doing for them at area meetings this spring. At a recent meeting in Bartow, Mutual CEO Mike Sparks summarized what growers are talking about, and what Mutual is telling the growers. “The entire citrus industry knows we’re still in …
CRDF President Discusses Bactericides
Tom Jerkins, president of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation, several years ago led a crowd at Florida Citrus Mutual’s annual meeting in chanting, “We need bactericides now!” The bactericides, which growers hope will significantly reduce HLB impacts on citrus trees, have been available to citrus growers for more than a year now. Most growers reportedly are using them, at …
New Case of HLB Found in Southern California
Huanglongbing (HLB) was confirmed in a single citrus tree in the city of La Habra in Orange County, California, on April 11, 2017. This new find will result in a new HLB quarantine area, which will link the existing quarantines into a contiguous zone spanning portions of Los Angeles and Orange counties. Additionally, two samples of Asian citrus psyllids (ACP) …
Psyllid Movement and Location in Trees
University of Florida entomologist Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski presented an abundance of facts about Asian citrus psyllids at the recent Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute in Avon Park. Her presentation included a discussion on how far the HLB-spreading psyllids can travel and where they are predominantly found in citrus trees. “They’re quite capable of long-distance movement, about four miles we determined,” Pelz-Stelinski says. …
Impact of the Water Bill on BMP Implementation
By Kelly Morgan Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential nutrients for plants and animals and are the limiting nutrients in aquatic environments. The correct balance of both nutrients is necessary for a healthy ecosystem; however, excessive nitrogen and/or phosphorus can cause significant water-quality problems. Typically, nitrogen is the limiting nutrient in spring and surface water systems. Therefore, even modest increases in …
Bucks Toward BMPs
Cost-share assistance is available from several sources for growers looking to implement improvements to best management practices. By Tacy Callies The names of the organizations and programs that provide funding to Florida citrus growers for best management practices (BMPs) projects — SWFWMD, FARMS, EQIP, etc. — can sound like a big bowl of alphabet soup. But in reality, they represent …
Crop Forecast Sees Changes for Grapefruit, Tangerines and Mandarins
Mark Hudson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service issued the April 2017 citrus crop forecast. ORANGES The U.S. all-orange forecast for the 2016-2017 season is 5.11 million tons, down 1 percent from last month and down 16 percent from the 2015-2016 revised final utilization. The Florida all-orange forecast, at 67 million boxes (3.02 million tons), is unchanged from …
Buddha’s Hand Citron Could Play Role in Canker Resistance Breeding
By Naveen Kumar, R.C. Ebel and P.D. Roberts Citrus canker became endemic in Florida after several introductions and eradication programs dating back to 1915. The citrus industry struggles for an effective, permanent program. Canker is an expensive disease due to the need to increase the number of sprays and products applied. Canker also causes enormous economic losses due to fruit …
Getting Water pH Correct in the Face of HLB
University of Florida (UF) researcher Kelly Morgan discusses a study of how citrus growers are adjusting irrigation water pH levels, and what pH levels seem to work best. The acid level of citrus irrigation water has become an important consideration since HLB was discovered in Florida groves in 2005. “Jim Graham (a fellow UF researcher) has been conducting a survey …
Researcher Provides Leprosis Update
The citrus viral disease leprosis, found briefly in Florida in the 1960s, is now in South America, Central America and Mexico. Ron Brlansky, University of Florida professor emeritus, provided an update on the disease at a March OJ Break in Lake Alfred. “It (leprosis) causes fruit spotting, leaf spots, leaf drop, fruit drop and even some major twig dieback of …
Bactericide Grower Trials for HLB ‘Extremely Variable’
Stephanie Slinski, Citrus Research and Development Foundation bactericide project manager, discussed grower trials on the use of bactericides for HLB at the Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute in Avon Park on April 4. She summarizes the presentation. “We have a series of field trials set up throughout Florida to test the efficacy of oxytetracycline and streptomycin just in the grower program,” …
Controlling ACP and Other Pests as Critical as Ever
By Jawwad A. Qureshi and Philip A. Stansly More than a decade has passed since 2006, when huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus greening disease was identified in Florida. By then, the disease had already spread widely and went unrecognized due to high psyllid populations and a disease incubation period of months or years between infection and symptom expression. Nevertheless, management of …
Entomopathogenic Nematodes: Root Weevil Management Tool
By Larry Duncan Citrus growers are recognized as early adopters of practices that enhance the biological control of arthropod pests. For more than a century, tactics such as the exploration and importation of predators and parasitoids or the reduced use of insecticides that disrupt biological control were increasingly employed against pests in the tree canopy. Beginning in the early 1990s, …