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Below you'll see everything we could locate for your search of “cover crops”
Citrus growers need both quantity and quality for a successful crop. As HLB continues to negatively impact both these factors, growers are seeking strategies to safeguard their fruit. The October issue of Citrus Industry magazine presents ideas for enhancing fruit quality and quantity. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers Tripti Vashisth and Christopher Vincent …
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) recently announced improved and expanded insurance options for citrus growers and others. 2022 CHANGES FOR FLORIDANext year, Florida producers will be able to insure several citrus commodities under an Actual Production History Plan that offers advantages over the existing Florida Citrus Fruit Dollar Plan. This product provides individualized coverage based …
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have identified a key mechanism by which the dangerous plant bacteria Xanthomonas can infect crops. The Xanthomonas bacteria, known as the “crop killer,” is a globally prevalent bacterium capable of infecting 400 different plant species. Citrus canker is caused by the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas citri subsp. The NTU researchers identified the exact …
Vero Beach grower George Hamner reported having better production and size on his fresh market grapefruit and lemon crops in the 2020-21 season than in the prior year. He said grapefruit prices remained steady, similar to the prior year. “Lemons, however, were not as good as previous years because of the loss of food-service business … due to COVID-19,” he …
Cutrale recently announced it has achieved a gold score in sustainability for all its orange farms in Brazil and the United States. The award is from the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) – Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA), a widely recognized sustainability standard. The FSA was developed by the SAI to enable food and beverage businesses from all crops and countries to …
By Arnold Schumann and Timothy Ebert As the adage goes, “necessity is the mother of invention.” Since the presence of huanglongbing (citrus greening) in Florida, new methods of managing the Asian citrus psyllid that transmits the bacteria have resulted in the growing of citrus in screen houses (CUPS, citrus under protective screen) and the use of individual protective covers (IPCs), …
Beneficial insects could be a citrus grower’s best friend. In a time when producers are applying insecticides to control the Asian citrus psyllid, the vector of citrus greening disease, it’s important to preserve the psyllids’ natural enemies, like lady beetles and lacewings. Jawwad Qureshi, University of Florida entomologist, implores growers to scout their groves periodically to see what insects are …
By Ute Albrecht and Leigh Archer Trunk injection is a targeted delivery of materials into the stem or trunk of trees as an alternative to spraying or soil drenching. It is practical for disease and pest management in high-value forest trees and ornamental plants where aerial applications are problematic because of environmental and human health-related concerns. Interest in using the …
A researcher at the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) in Greece is using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to estimate crop yield. “Crop yield is the most important piece of information for crop management in precision agriculture. Early crop yield estimations allow farmers to optimize farm operation scheduling, field management and product marketing decisions,” said AUA associate professor Spyros Fountas. Fountas …
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences entomologist Lauren Diepenbrock provided an update on lebbeck mealybug during the 2021 Florida Citrus Growers’ Institute. The pest, first found in Florida commercial citrus in 2019, feeds on and damages citrus, causing up to 70% fruit drop in heavily infested groves. According to Diepenbrock, damaged fruit will not be marketable for …
Water is the lifeblood of any farming operation. Many involved in the agriculture sector are working to do all they can to help Florida conserve water and make the most of this essential natural resource. Tatiana Borisova, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) water resource economist, gave an overview of the water-quality policies and programs in …
By Francisco Seva Rivadulla The Spanish lemon sector is going through one of the worst price crises in recent years. Currently, prices at origin for Fino lemons are 0.15 to 0.18 euro cents per kilo, while the production cost is 0.20 per kilo. Therefore, Spanish producers are losing money this harvest season, according to sources from the Agricultural Association of …
As growers strive for sustainability in the HLB era, biological controls are playing an increasingly important role in citrus production. The March issue of Citrus Industry magazine features some of the latest biological control research. An article by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) entomologist Jawwad Qureshi looks at three types of biological control agents used …
Two University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers will study citrus roots and stems to improve photosynthesis in plant leaves. Christopher Vincent and Fred Gmitter hope to find the optimal relationship between citrus tree “sources” and “sinks” so that plant breeders can select varieties — and growers can use practices — that lead to faster-growing plants. …
By Ajia Paolillo Editor’s note: This article grants one continuing education unit (CEU) in the Core category toward the renewal of a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services restricted-use pesticide license when the accompanying test is submitted and approved. Integrated pest management (IPM) uses a combination of methods to keep pest populations at an acceptable level, which are economical …
One of the main issues for citrus crop growers is the quick spread of fungal and bacterial diseases due to warm, wet growing conditions. Without proper methods to prevent and control diseases, crop yield can be greatly reduced, and groves can become ruined. How do you produce a healthy citrus crop while keeping diseases under control? For generations, growers have …
By Yiannis Ampatzidis and Tara Wade Traditional sensing technologies in citrus production for pest and disease detection and field phenotyping rely on manual sampling, which is time consuming and labor intensive. Since availability of personnel trained for field scouting is a major problem, small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with various sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) can simplify the surveying …
By Joyjit Saha, Matthew Krug and Michelle D. Danyluk The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly changed so much. SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is primarily transmitted person-to-person, with no evidence it is transmitted by food or food packaging, including citrus and citrus products. Managing COVID-19 among workers is extremely important. COVID-19 impacts on the health of employees can have catastrophic …
Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists have made a discovery that should help combat fastidious or “unculturable” pathogens, such as Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the HLB causal agent. HLB is also known as citrus greening disease. Kranthi Mandadi, a researcher with Texas A&M, and his colleagues have been working several years on developing new technologies to fight the fastidious pathogens. Mandadi and …
By Ruth Borger Despite 2020 being a challenging year with a lot to complain about, there are many things to be thankful for. This is the time of year to take a few minutes to reflect on what we have to be grateful for. Here are just a few things to be thankful for that come quickly to mind. A …
