december

Sneak Peek: December 2023 Citrus Industry

Daniel CooperAcreage, HLB Management, Sneak Peek

It’s no secret that Florida’s citrus industry has seen significant shrinkage since the advent of citrus greening in the state. In the December issue of Citrus Industry magazine, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) economist Ariel Singerman takes an in-depth look at the acreage attrition. He examines the figures by county over the past 20 years. …

climate change

Climate Change Impacts Mediterranean Citrus

Daniel CooperInternational, Production, Weather

Turkey’s citrus industry has already experienced effects from climate change, Okan Ozkaya, professor at Cukurova University, reported in a recent World Citrus Organisation (WCO) presentation. His presentation was titled Impact of Climate Change in the Citrus Sector in Turkey and the Broader Eastern Mediterranean Area. “Climate change has been a scenario for many years, but we started to see the …

All In With Trunk Injection

Josh McGillHLB Management, planting

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 …

Brassinosteroids Can Improve Juice Quality and Fruit Yield

Josh McGillTip of the Week

By Fernando Alferez and Divya Aryal There are some indications that brassinosteroids (Brs) may advance commercial internal maturity by almost one month in Valencia sweet orange, depending on the time of application. However, the best time of application in this variety and other sweet orange varieties like Hamlin still needs to be determined, so that this treatment can become economically …

CRDF

$5 Million Awarded to UF/IFAS for HLB Research

Josh McGillHLB Management, Research

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 …

Australian Citrus Season Sees Improvement

Josh McGillInternational

There have been signs of improvement for the Australian citrus industry in the 2023 season compared to 2022. Among other things, Citrus Australia Chief Executive Officer Nathan Hancock said fruit quality has improved this season. The tail end of the 2023 harvest has been particularly strong from a quality perspective, according to Hancock. “While the earlier fruit this season struggled …

How Much Yield Is Needed to Offset the Cost of Injecting Trees With Oxytetracycline?

Josh McGillEconomics, HLB Management

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 …

Universities Receive 11 Federal Grants for HLB Research

Josh McGillHLB Management, Research

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 …

Citrus Acreage Attrition by County in Florida

Josh McGillAcreage, Florida, Land

By Ariel Singerman Citrus greening (HLB) has significantly impacted the Florida citrus industry. The disease has caused tree health, yield and fruit quality to decrease significantly over time. In 2022–23, due to the combined impact of HLB, Hurricane Ian and a freeze in December 2022, the statewide average yield for both Valencia and non-Valencia oranges was estimated to be approximately …

Research Update on Oxytetracycline Injection for HLB Management

Josh McGillHLB Management, Research

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 …

Optimistic First Forecast for Florida Citrus

Tacy CalliesCrop Forecast

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

Josh McGillOrange Juice, 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 …

Trunk Injection Wounding: What You Need to Know

Josh McGillHLB Management, Tip of the Week

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 …

Optimize Zinc and Potassium Applications to Prevent Fruit Drop

Josh McGillFruit Drop, Nutrition, Tip of the Week

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 …

Breeder Advice on Nutrition, Scions and Rootstocks

Josh McGillNutrition, Rootstocks, Varieties

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 …

Combine Plant Growth Regulators for Most Benefit

Josh McGillCitrus Expo, PGRs

Using the plant growth regulators (PGRs) gibberellic acid (GA), 2,4-D and cytokinin in combination can maximize the benefit for HLB-affected trees, researcher Tripti Vashisth reported recently. The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) associate professor of citrus horticulture and production works at the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. She discussed the benefits of …

Treat HLB Trees With the Right PGR at the Right Time

Josh McGillHLB Management, PGRs, Research

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 …

Trunk Injection: Rootstock vs. Scion

Josh McGillHLB Management, Tip of the Week

By Ute Albrecht, Larissa Nunes and Gabriel Pugina   The current label recommends trunk injection of oxytetracycline (OTC) into the rootstock, but this may not always be possible. Previous University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) studies have shown that both rootstock and scion injections are effective. However, researchers have not yet studied if different rootstocks influence …

HLB Tools for Today and Tomorrow

Josh McGillCitrus Expo, HLB Management

By Frank Giles and Tacy Callies The Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo hosted two citrus educational sessions during the Aug. 16–17 event held at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. The sessions included both long-term research aimed at delivering trees resistant to HLB as well as what growers can do today to help mitigate the effects of the disease in …

Brazilian

Season’s First Update to Brazil’s Orange Forecast

Josh McGillBrazil, Crop Forecast

The first update of the 2023–24 orange crop forecast for the São Paulo and West-Southwest Minas Gerais citrus belt confirmed the initial May forecast of 309.34 million boxes. Fundecitrus announced the update on Sept. 11. The forecast for Hamlin, Westin and Rubi varieties was increased 3.5% to 58.09 million boxes. Other early-season varieties climbed 1.6% to 18.51 million boxes. The …