Due to major problems with pests and diseases, Brazilian producers have adopted alternative practices, such as dense planting, Fundecitrus’ Citricultor magazine recently reported. These practices reduce costs, increase yield and achieve a faster return on investment. As a result of this trend, new production practices are needed to improve management, including the frequent pruning of trees, which is essential in …
CRAFT Cycle 5 Offers New Category for Funding
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 …
Optimistic First Forecast for Florida Citrus
The bad news is that severe weather warnings caused the annual citrus crop luncheon to be cancelled at Putnam Ranch in Zolfo Springs, Florida. The good news is that the Florida citrus crop forecast is up in all categories. Bill Curtis, agricultural statistics administrator with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, presented the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) …
The Big Push for New Processed Orange Varieties
Citrus breeders at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have been making a big push for four years to develop new orange varieties for processing. The need for the push was accentuated last year by a multitude of adverse situations on the processing side of the business. In a recent virtual presentation, UF/IFAS plant breeder …
Damage Documentation Tips for Hurricane Season
By Matt Smith One of the things I like most about being an Extension agent is getting to work with new growers. Despite all odds, some of these growers are getting into citrus. With hurricane season underway, it’s good for new growers to know — and for established growers to refresh themselves on — how to prepare before a storm …
New Class for Wedgworth Leadership Institute
The Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources (WLI) recently selected 30 participants for Class XII of its two-year leadership development program. The program’s first seminar will take place in Gainesville in November. Participants have committed to 11 seminars, totaling 55 days, which further develop their leadership capacity in representing agricultural and natural resources industries. Seminars will be held …
Provide Feedback During Florida Fruit Displays
Later this month, Florida citrus fruit displays will get underway. This is a key component of the citrus breeding program to get input from growers and other industry stakeholders on how fruit from potential new varieties looks and tastes. During the September All In For Citrus podcast, Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural …
First HLB Detection in Ventura County
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has declared a quarantine in Ventura County following the detection of the citrus disease huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening, in two citrus trees on one residential property in the city of Santa Paula. These detections are the first HLB-positive trees in Ventura County. CDFA is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture …
Optimize Zinc and Potassium Applications to Prevent Fruit Drop
By Fernando Alferez, Daniel Boakye, Murillo De Sousa and Pablo Orozco After HLB was first detected in Florida, increase in disease-associated preharvest fruit drop in affected trees has significantly reduced grower returns. Fruit drop is normal in healthy citrus, accounting for 10% to 15% of the total crop. However, under endemic HLB conditions and depending on the variety, crop loss …
Citrus Thrips Reduce California Production
California citrus growers faced significant citrus thrips challenges this season due to the unprecedented rainfall, California Citrus Mutual (CCM) reported. The unusual weather pattern led to uncontrollable conditions in the field. Reports from the CCM Pest and Disease Task Force indicated that some growers have experienced exterior fruit scarring on as much as 80% of the fruit in individual blocks. …
Breeder Advice on Nutrition, Scions and Rootstocks
Citrus breeder Jude Grosser recently shared tips on tree nutrition and discussed some scion/rootstock combinations that should work well for trees producing juice oranges. NUTRITIONGrosser became very interested in citrus nutrition several years ago in an effort to keep his newly bred trees healthy in the face of HLB. The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences professor …
A Grove-First Approach
In the nearly two decades that huanglongbing (HLB) has plagued Florida citrus groves, about $1 billion has been spent in the search for solutions. A lot of great scientists in Florida and around the world have worked on the problem, and a silver bullet, if there is one to be found, has been elusive. Researchers, along with growers, have developed …
Diseases Without Borders: Leprosis and Yellow Vein Clearing Viruses
By Ozgur Batuman Plant virus diseases are unusually difficult to manage if introduced into new production sites. Citrus-infecting viruses, particularly those spread by insect vectors, are no exception to this. Florida is regularly challenged by a barrage of invasive pests and pathogen species that could devastate the citrus industry. Viruses causing citrus leprosis and citrus yellow vein clearing diseases are …
Commissioner Simpson Presents Priorities at Expo
The Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo ventured into new territory this year — literally. After three decades at the Lee Civic Center in Fort Myers, this year’s event was held at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. There were several factors forcing the move this year, including damage to the Lee Civic Center from Hurricane Ian. With a new facility …
Sneak Peek: October 2023 Citrus Industry
Trunk injection of oxytetracycline (OTC) is giving growers hope for the future of the Florida citrus industry. Many are optimistic the new therapy will help improve both fruit quality and quantity. The key will be whether fruit holds on the trees until harvest time. The October issue of Citrus Industry magazine provides the latest information on OTC trunk injection from …
Treat HLB Trees With the Right PGR at the Right Time
By Tripti Vashisth, Wesley Webb and Taylor Livingston As trees become symptomatic for HLB, leaves experience an imbalance of plant hormones. This hormonal imbalance exacerbates HLB symptoms and can lead to more stem dieback, poor vegetative growth and fruit drop. This ultimately leads to reduced bearing wood, resulting in yield losses and tree decline. Thus, the use of growth-promoting hormones …
Fruit Fly Quarantine Actions in California
Portions of Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties in California have been placed under quarantine for the Oriental fruit fly (OFF), and a quarantine in Orange County has been removed. See the updated quarantine map here. CONTRA COSTA COUNTYIn Contra Costa County, detections near the cities of Brentwood and Oakley have resulted in a quarantine zone covering 99 square miles. …
PIECES OF THE PAST: What’s a Name Got to Do With it?
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette I recently received Waverly Growers Cooperative’s 50th Golden Anniversary booklet (1914–1964) from a reader. One of the things I found interesting was how the town of Waverly was formed, and how various places in the area got their names. Between 1882 and 1884, W.B. Campbell, Asa Gibbons and F.W. Ohlinger homesteaded in a stopping place for …
Improved Lebbeck Mealybug Detection
The U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) scientists and research partners have found a faster, safer and less expensive way for growers to detect the invasive lebbeck mealybug. A recent study published in Journal of Applied Entomology describes their work. The lebbeck mealybug (Nipaecoccus viridis) feeds on and damages various citrus fruit and ornamental plants. The invasive species …
Young Tree Establishment Tools Compared
By Ernie Neff New tools available to aid in establishment of young citrus groves all have pros, cons and unknowns, entomologist Lauren Diepenbrock told a Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo audience in August. Diepenbrock is an entomologist and assistant professor with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. She opened her presentation by saying insecticides alone are …