Citrus growers can see if they want to grow the latest varieties from UF/IFAS breeders -- and then learn more about commercializing crops – all on Dec. 4 at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Citrus Research and Education Center.
In the morning, people in the industry can sample the latest citrus varieties from UF/IFAS breeders.
“These are new varieties from UF/IFAS that growers can see, and then provide feedback to the plant improvement team about which ones they feel are the best candidates to move toward commercialization,” said CREC director Michael Rogers.
Then, in the afternoon, at the Citrus Breeding Symposium, growers can learn the latest data from international researchers who develop new types of citrus.
“Florida citrus growers can learn about the differences between their industry and others in the world in terms of products, challenges and opportunities, marketing and the ways in which new citrus varieties can impact their business now and in the future,” said Fred Gmitter, a UF/IFAS professor of citrus breeding and genetics at CREC.
Not only can growers learn the newest information, they’ll find out about approaches to commercializing new citrus varieties. The speakers will address the ways in which intellectual property protection, grower access and royalty structure are managed in their respective locations, including UF/IFAS in Florida, Gmitter said. At UF, 70 percent of royalty income is reinvested directly back to support the breeding program, making UF unique in the world.
The symposium will start with lunch at noon and run until 5 p.m. Scheduled to speak at the conference are:
- Malcolm Smith -- DAF Bundaberg Research Station in Australia.
- Fernando Rivas -- National Institute of Agricultural Research in Uruguay.
- Kwan Jeong Song -- (South Korea) Jeju National University in South Korea.
- Pablo Aleza -- IVIA in Spain.
- Marco Caruso -- Research Centre for Citrus and Mediterranean crops in Italy.
In addition to the global breeders, Gmitter and Jude Grosser -- a UF/IFAS professor of citrus breeding and genetics, also at CREC -- also will present some information on new varieties. For instance, they’ll briefly highlight a few recently released citrus varieties including sweet oranges and other fresh fruit, including LB8-9 Sugar Belle®, ‘UF 950’ and some others, as well as the so-called UFR rootstock releases.
“The citrus breeding symposium is an excellent opportunity for Florida citrus growers who are interested to learn more about the major global citrus-breeding programs,” Rogers said. “Having the leading citrus breeders from around the world in one room will provide a unique opportunity to gain a better understanding of how breeding programs operate in other countries and what the global trends are -- besides citrus greening -- that are driving breeding programs globally.”
Meanwhile, the University of Florida is working on improvements to laser technology, so that farmers can improve the efficiency of the spray solutions they use to restore vitality to greening-affected citrus trees.
More efficiency would also mean reducing the amounts of chemicals. Citrus in India has been known to suffer seriously from certain disorders resulting in low production, twig dieback, slow death and even sudden wilting attributed to “dieback”, a disease that was first observed in the 18th Century in central India. Proof for the presence of HLB in India was eventually obtained at the virus Research Center at Poona by Capoor and co-workers, when they succeeded in transmitting the HLB pathogen by the Asian psylla, D. citri by demonstrating that trees with dieback symptoms invariably proved positive for HLB. Thereafter, it was reported from different citrus growing regions of India and was considered to be principal cause of citrus dieback disease.
From several surveys conducted from 2007 to 2012 along with molecular test (real-time PCR) in 16 states of India confirmed its distribution in all studied states (except Arunachal Pradesh): Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and West Bengal.
Apart from India, the world wide in China, Africa, Philippines, south-east Asia, Pakistan, Nepal and America the disease Citrus Greening Disease Management also known as Technological Advances in Huanglongbing (HLB). Although HLB was first reported from China in 1919 where many citrus species were originated most scientists believe that citrus species are not the original host of the HLB organism.
A tree infected with HLB in the field usually develops one or more yellow shoots with other parts of the tree healthy or symptomless. The affected leaves develop a pattern of yellow and green areas lacking clear limits between the colors, giving a "blotchy mottle" appearance. This is the most characteristics foliar symptom and the patterns are asymmetrical on the two halves of the leaf. Leaves can also become thicker, with veins enlarged and corky in appearance.
Professor of Horticultural Sciences Ed Etxeberria at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences explains that the updated technology has a laser shooting infra-red energy pulses at citrus tree leaves. That energy cracks the cuticles on the leaves and increases the penetration of agrochemicals -including bactericides- into the leaves by more than 4,000 percent.
“We have vastly improved the basic parameters of the technology by using different laser wavelengths and other optics to make this a much more user-friendly technology, not to mention its increased efficiency and lower cost,” Etxeberria said. “We’ve made it a lot more effective.” The waxy cuticle on the leaf naturally prevents sprays from penetrating citrus leaves. The laser exfoliates the wax, creating cracks in the cuticle, thereby letting substances reach the undisturbed living cells underneath the leaf’s surface.
In the lab, the new technology works like a charm. Etxeberria predicts the updated laser technology will be very simple to use in the field as well. But first, UF/IFAS agricultural engineers will have to adapt the laser to grove conditions.
For more information:
Brad Buck
Tel: +1 352-294-3303
Email: bradbuck@ufl.edu