Results show promise for organic groves, but more research is needed. Since it was first discovered in the United States in 2005, the bacterial disease known as citrus greening, or Huanglongbing, has devastated millions of acres of citrus crops throughout this country and abroad, ravaging citrus groves in Asia, Africa and South America. Citrus greening has impacted conventional and organic …
California HLB Detections Increased in 2018 as Monitoring Efforts Intensified
Huanglongbing (HLB) may have been found in significantly more citrus trees in 2018, but improved sampling and monitoring offer a reason as to why HLB detections increased so dramatically. In 2018, the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program (CPDPP) redoubled efforts to limit the spread of HLB and its vector, the Asian citrus psyllid …
PIECES OF THE PAST: Citrus 70 Years Ago, as Told by Uncle Bill
By Brenda Eubanks Burnette Editor’s note: Citrus Industry is pleased to welcome back Pieces of the Past to the pages of the magazine after publishing it on CitrusIndustry.net for the past year. This popular citrus history column returns to the magazine in preparation for Citrus Industry magazine’s 100th anniversary in January 2020. Leading up to the anniversary, each Pieces of …
PFD Threat Nears
“Postbloom fruit drop (PFD) season is coming upon us fairly quickly,” plant pathologist Megan Dewdney said in summarizing a presentation she made Jan. 16 in Immokalee, Florida. “Growers should be planning on keeping an eye on the rain forecast … how much bloom they are having now, how much bloom they’ll have in two (to) three weeks, and keeping an …
IPM as an Economic Strategy
Many citrus growers think integrated pest management (IPM) is all about reducing pesticide use. Not so, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences entomologist Lukasz Stelinski told growers recently. “IPM is a system to achieve sustainable agriculture, and it’s very much based in economics, where a damage threshold or economic injury level is identified,” Stelinski said. Once a …
Government Shutdown Not Affecting California Citrus — Yet
An analysis by California Citrus Mutual (CCM) indicates there is no major impact at the present time on government programs that affect California’s citrus industry. This could change if the shutdown drags on, however. According to the report, “Our major priority would be the ACP/HLB program sometimes known as CHRP (Citrus Health Response Program). We are not suffering any major …
Recent Pest Concerns in Florida Citrus
By Lauren Diepenbrock While Asian citrus psyllids (ACP) are an ongoing concern in Florida citrus due to their role in spreading the bacterium associated with citrus greening, they are not the only pest of concern to growers. Citrus leafminer (CLM) and root weevils are two pests that have been raising concerns and adding to the challenge of managing productive citrus …
Citrus Breeding in Uruguay
A primary job for scientists breeding citrus in Uruguay is to help the approximately 42,000-acre industry develop fresh fruit for export, Fernando Rivas said at a recent international citrus breeders symposium in Lake Alfred, Florida. Rivas works for Uruguay’s National Institute of Agricultural Research. On. Dec. 4, Rivas told an audience of about 70 at the Citrus Research and Education …
HLB Reduction Strategies
By Jawwad Qureshi, Lukasz Stelinski and Fernando Alferez Management of huanglongbing (HLB) has focused on reducing the vector Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) and improving tree health, thus requiring a multi-pronged approach. Several elements of an HLB management system are either available or under current investigation. Maintenance of clean nursery stock, vector management and tree nutrition are widely implemented, while incorporation …
Thermotherapy’s Effects on Fruit Drop, Yield and Quality
By Megan Dewdney, Evan Johnson, Naweena Thapa and Michelle Danyluk In 2015, we started a large-scale project to determine if thermotherapy would be an effective huanglongbing (HLB) treatment for field trees. Some of the objectives were to determine effective temperature-time combinations for thermotherapy, which season gave optimal results for thermotherapy, and the effect on yield in subsequent years. TRIAL DETAILSComprehensive …
Rogers Reviews 2018 in Citrus
Citrus Research and Education Center Director Michael Rogers recently took a look back at the Florida citrus industry in 2018 from a grower and researcher perspective. Rogers said 2018 was “a bit calmer” for everyone in the industry than the prior year. “Our main citrus-growing regions in the state dodged major hurricanes this year … We really needed a break …
2016-17 Florida Citrus Season: Smaller Harvest, Higher Prices
A new report from economists with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Economic Impact Analysis Program (EIAP) showed higher prices offset production declines during Florida’s 2016-17 citrus growing season, and the industry’s overall economic contributions changed little from 2015-16. Titled, “Economic Contributions of the Florida Citrus Industry in 2016-17,” the report was formally presented to …
California Citrus Conference Calls Attention to Key Industry Issues
By Len Wilcox The Citrus Research Board’s (CRB) annual California Citrus Conference took place in October in Visalia. This year’s event included a celebration of the organization’s 50th anniversary. The CRB is an important resource to California’s citrus industry. It awards more than $7 million each year to researchers throughout the state. Since 2008, CRB has focused much of its …
Good Varieties for CUPS
At a recent field day for citrus under protective screen (CUPS) in Polk County, researcher Arnold Schumann discussed varieties that appear to work well in the system. Schumann is with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Citrus Research and Education Center. The primary purpose of growing citrus under protective screen is to keep out the Asian …
Growers to Learn About Pest Management at Workshop
Citrus growers can learn more about managing Asian citrus psyllids and other pests in a workshop Jan. 8 at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC). The psyllid can transmit the bacteria associated with greening disease to citrus trees and has already caused severe damage to Florida’s multi-billion-dollar-a-year citrus industry. …
Researchers to Study New HLB Treatment Method
University of California (UC) Davis research scientist Louise Ferguson is taking part in a $3.4 million project titled “Development of an automated delivery system for therapeutic materials to treat HLB-infected citrus.” The study is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The four-year project includes work by researchers at the University of Florida, UC …
Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Inductees Chosen for 2019
Three distinguished leaders will be inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame at the 57th Citrus Celebration Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on March 8 at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. Tim Hurner of Sebring, Richard J. Kinney (deceased), formerly of Lakeland, and Peter McClure of Port Saint Lucie will be honored at the luncheon. Hurner Tim Hurner is a fourth-generation Florida …
Nursery Production Guide Being Developed
A Citrus Nursery Production Guide is expected to be published by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) in five or six months. “We are going to cover the basics of nursery production,” said UF/IFAS researcher Rhuanito (Johnny) Ferrarezi. “Then we will help (with) selecting varieties. We will talk about … how to clean material, how …
Opposite Production Situations This Season
By Marcos Fava Neves When compared to last season’s output, expected orange production this season is dramatically different in both Florida and Brazil. FLORIDA UP The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s November forecast for Florida’s 2018–19 orange crop is 77 million boxes, 71 percent more than last season’s 45 million boxes. Of these 77 million boxes of oranges, 32 million boxes …
Citrus Nutrition Day to Include Field Tours
This year’s Citrus Nutrition Day — at which growers will learn the latest data about growing the fruit, from the soil up through the plants — is expanding to include tours of field trials. After a morning of updates from University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers, participants may tour field sites at the Peace River …