Beginning this week, Florida citrus growers will have an updated resource to help them keep groves productive despite the ever-present threat of huanglongbing, the bacterial malady also known as HLB or citrus greening disease. Experts with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have just completed a 180-page technical handbook, “Florida Citrus Production Guide 2018-2019.” It …
New Planting Options for Citrus Growers
By Fred Gmitter, Ed Stover, Randy Driggers, Greg McCollum and Jude Grosser The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service citrus breeding program has a long history of releasing successful scion and rootstock cultivars. There had been a 15-year lapse in creating new hybrids, and the recently released cultivars largely reflect breeding efforts that preceded the onslaught of HLB …
Nutrient Recommendations for Citrus Greening
As Florida citrus growers look to recover from the damages of Hurricane Irma and continue to cope with citrus greening, University of Florida (UF) scientists suggest using a complete and balanced nutrient program in their groves. “Mineral nutrition plays a vital physiological role in the growth and development of a plant and as well as in plant-defense response,” said Tripti …
Early Findings Show Plant Hormone May Help in HLB Fight
University of Florida scientists think a group of hormones may eventually help growers battle citrus greening, but they still want to study them before recommending growers use the chemical. Fernando Alferez, an assistant professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), leads a team of UF/IFAS researchers studying the effects of Homobrassinolides …
Rootstock Choice May Be Key in Tree Productivity
Florida citrus growers recognize the Sugar Belle® mandarin hybrid for its tolerance of citrus greening disease, and new findings from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) suggest that rootstock selection may play a role in keeping Sugar Belle® trees productive even if they become infected with the bacterial malady. “We now have proof of concept …
Lemons in Florida: Something New Under the Sun?
By Fred Gmitter, Bill Castle and Jude Grosser King Solomon once pointed out that “there is nothing new under the sun,” meaning that what has happened before will happen again. Although the idea of growing lemons in Florida is viewed by some these days as a new thing, Florida actually has a fairly long history of lemon production. FLORIDA LEMON …
HLB Alters Nutrition Needs
Yield and fruit size are not good measurements of the nutrition needs of HLB-affected trees, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers have discovered. “So we decided to go with something that’s fruit independent for the study,” says UF/IFAS scientist Arnold Schumann of the Citrus Research and Education Center at Lake Alfred. Schumann says he and …
Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Consortium Get Grant for HLB Research
A Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist at Weslaco will lead a consortium of researchers in major citrus-producing regions to conduct high-throughput screening in discovering antimicrobials that could prevent citrus greening. Citrus greening, also known as huanglongbing (HLB) disease, has devastated citrus fruit crops in Florida and has made its way to Texas and California. The research grant of approximately $1.2 …
The Sweet Spot
Moderate spacing and medium tree size could be the quickest way Florida growers can return to producing 100 million boxes of oranges per year. By Pete Spyke, Bill Castle and Ed Stover The Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) recently released the results of a study originally titled “Restoring Florida’s Commercial Orange Tree Inventory: Economic Impacts of APS vs. Traditional Plantings.” …
Scientists Use Fungus to Manage Asian Citrus Psyllids
Fighting plant disease with jet blast sprays is standard practice for citrus growers. But, to spray a fungus to control a single insect that carries a disease-causing pathogen is uncommon. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and Florida Research Center for Agricultural Sustainability researchers have begun to test an insect-killing fungus applied with horticultural oil …
Jack Payne on New SWFREC Director
By Jack Payne, jackpayne@ufl.edu, @JackPayneIFAS Kelly Morgan is a more reliable water source than rain is. You don’t know when or if you’ll get water from the sky, but what Morgan can teach you makes every drop you have go farther. His focus on the farmer as customer is what has made him so successful as the state’s best management …
Artificial Intelligence for Detecting Citrus Pests, Diseases and Disorders
By Arnold Schumann, Laura Waldo, William Holmes, Gary Test and Tim Ebert Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly common in electronic devices at home or work, in social media, video streaming services, electronic commerce, and in internet search engines. Now, AI is rapidly entering the farming scene. Growers using modern precision agriculture tools and techniques often face a barrage of high …
Citrus Youth Day: Science and Recruiting
Citrus Youth Day at Lake Alfred’s Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) on June 28 gave the University of Florida (UF) a chance to teach a little science and recruit future UF students. Jamie Burrow, Extension program manager for UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and Citrus Youth Day coordinator, said more than 70 youngsters registered for the …
Cold-Hardy Citrus for North Florida
By Xavier Martini and Peter Andersen Cold-hardy citrus has a long history in North Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia. Records show that sweet orange, citron, lemon, lime and pummelo were brought to Saint Augustine, Florida, from Spain in 1565. However, it was not until the late 1700s that the Jesuits introduced satsuma (Citrus unshiu) to what is now Louisiana. SATSUMA …
Field Testing of New HLB-Tolerant Scions and Rootstocks
By Rhuanito S. Ferrarezi, Jude W. Grosser, Fred G. Gmitter, Ed Stover and Kim Bowman Citrus is Florida’s most important agricultural commodity. The state produces citrus for different markets: round oranges for juice; navels, mandarins, grapefruit and lemons for the fresh-fruit industry; and lemons for extracting peel oil for processing. Huanglongbing (HLB) disease affects all citrus varieties. Since the discovery …
Alternatives to Rootstock Propagation by Seed: Differences, Concerns and Expectations
By Ute Albrecht Commercial citrus rootstock propagation traditionally occurs via use of nucellar apomictic seed, which generates genetically identical seedlings that are used as liners for budding. With the high demand for superior rootstocks in the age of HLB, commercial nurseries are currently experiencing a shortage of seeds for some of the most popular rootstock varieties. In addition, for many …
Committed to Clientele-Focused Leadership
By John Arthington Column sponsored by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation Hello. I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and my new role at the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF). As many of you are aware, Harold Browning retired as chief operations officer (COO) to pursue other opportunities in private industry. At that time, Larry Black …
Perdue Announces Florida Citrus Hurricane Recovery Details
(Washington, D.C., May 1, 2018) – Under the direction of President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced new details on eligibility for a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster program, 2017 Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program (2017 WHIP). Additionally, USDA will provide $340 million through a block grant to the state of Florida for Hurricane …
CRDF Accepting Applications for Chief Operating Officer
The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) has launched a search for its next chief operating officer (COO). Located at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, the CRDF is a direct support organization of the University of Florida. This not-for-profit corporation was established to support Florida’s citrus …
Managing Mites in Florida Citrus
By Lukasz L. Stelinski, Jawwad A. Qureshi and Philip A. Stansly Florida citrus is host to four main groups of mites categorized by differences in lineage and morphology. However, only rust mites, spider mites and broad mites historically cause economic damage to commercially grown citrus in the state. The fourth group, referred to as false spider mites, are vectors elsewhere …