The research conducted during the past eighteen months by the Senasica and the Centre for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute to find alternatives for the management of the Huanglongbing (HLB) has had important advances.
Enrique Sanchez Cruz, director in chief of Senasica, confirmed their advances during a tour conducted by the region of Tecomán, Colima, where he assessed the progress of the research being done and the development of strategies for the control and management of the HLB in Mexican lime.
The head of Senasica showed the senator, Sarahà Itzel Rios de la Mora and a state and federal workgroup the progress made so far, which generates significant expectations for a solution for the Mexican and worldwide citrus.
During the presentation, the members of the delegation saw Mexican lime plants and other citrus fruits that have shown levels of suppression of the HLB. These plants express antimicrobial proteins, which are promising to mitigate the damage caused by the bacteria that causes HLB.
Senator Rios congratulated Sagarpa for this research, which she described as a priority for national citrus and particularly for the state of Colima, an icon in the production of Mexican lime. She also stated that it was urgent to obtain viable alternatives to control the HLB in the short term.
The researchers reported that their line of work was focused on obtaining lime plants that had acceptable tolerance levels to the attack of one of the most devastating citrus pests in the world. They also reported that they would begin their evaluation at an agronomic scale this year.
As it lies within the scope of the collaboration between entities, the researchers said they were considering obtaining citrus rootstocks that expressed antimicrobial activity against the HLB.
After the field trip, the group went to the National Reference Centre for Biological Control, where Hugo Arredondo Bernal, head of the Centre, explained the procedures for the production of an insect called Tamarixia radiata and of the entomopathogenic fungi, which are used for biological control of the insect that transmits HLB, the Ladiaphorina citri.
The CEO of Plant Health, Javier Trujillo Arriaga; the director of the National Reference Centre for Plant Health, Jose Abel Lopez Buenfil and the researcher Beatriz Xoconostle Cazares, among others, participated in the tour.
Source: INFORMEX