Retired scientist ignites ‘Orange Revolution’ to fight citrus greening
Too many factors, including exotic diseases, high land prices and urbanization, were slowly squeezing veteran citrus growers out of the business, he said. The citrus industry wasn’t doing well and it was time for growers to change their longterm cultural practices.
Skaria’s revolution, named after Dr. Norman Borlaug’s Green Revolution and his life-saving wheat improvement projects of the mid-20th century, called for growers to switch to high-density planting using micro-budded trees that produce fruit quickly. Skaria reasoned that the only way to stay one step ahead of tree-killing diseases and prohibitive expenses was to produce more citrus fruit per acre quicker using cost-effective methods.
In a process Skaria developed, hardy sour orange rootstocks are grown from seed in a tubular container and micro-budded when the rootstock is still small. Within two or three weeks, the newly budded rootstock begins to grow and is soon ready for transplanting to an orchard.
Unlike traditionally grafted trees, micro-budded trees do not spend 12-18 months or more in a nursery before they can be transplanted, which makes them less expensive, Skaria said. And for reasons not yet thoroughly studied, micro-budded trees mature and produce more fruit and quicker than traditionally grafted citrus trees. “These micro-budded trees are not genetically modified,” he said.
Skaria said this system helps growers keep pace with losses. “In a well-maintained orchard,” he said, “assuming citrus greening pressure of a three percent yearly incidence, a high density, micro-budded orchard could definitely bring an economic advantage, unlike a traditional orchard.”
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Source: agrilife.org
