17 Apr 2025
Yield

Postharvest Disinfestation Treatments for False Codling Moth and Fruit Flies in Citrus from South Africa

South Africa is the 13th largest producer and second largest exporter of citrus fruit globally. The false codling moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta, and the fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata, C. rosa and Bactrocera dorsalis, can potentially infest citrus fruit and therefore pose a phytosanitary risk for export markets. Consequently, a wide range of postharvest phytosanitary treatments for disinfestation of citrus fruit from these pests have been investigated. These include cold treatments, irradiation, fumigation, heat treatments, and combinations of some of these.

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25 Mar 2025

Role of plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) as a plant growth enhancer for sustainable agriculture: A Review

The rhizosphere of a plant is home to helpful microorganisms called plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), which play a crucial role in promoting plant growth and development. The significance of PGPR for long-term agricultural viability is outlined in this review. Plant growth processes such as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and hormone secretion are discussed. Increased plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, reduced use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and enhanced nutrient availability, soil fertility, and absorption are all mentioned as potential benefits of PGPR. PGPR has multiple ecological and practical functions in the soil’s rhizosphere.

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25 Mar 2025
Mandarin

Canopy position affects pigment expression and accumulation of flavedo carbohydrates of ‘Nules Clementine’ Mandarin Fruit, thereby affecting rind condition

Because photosynthesis provides the required carbohydrates for fruit development and respiration releases the stored energy from these carbon compounds, interalia during postharvest storage, it is therefore important that fruit tissues have an adequate carbohydrate concentration at the start of the postharvest period to ensure optimal storage life. In addition to photosynthate supply from leaves, the chlorophyll-containing flavedo of citrus (Citrus sp.) fruit (outer, colored part of the rind) has the ability to fix CO2 through its own photosynthetic system. In this experiment, spanning three seasons, the three main sugars (sucrose, glucose, and fructose) were quantified in the flavedo of ‘Nules Clementine’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata) fruit during Stages II and III of fruit development. Flavedo was sampled from fruit borne on the inside (low light intensity) or outside (high light intensity) of the tree’s canopy. In one season, the photosynthetic and respiration rates of fruit borne in the two canopy positions were measured pre- and post-color break (March and April, respectively).

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28 Feb 2025

Influence of deficit irrigation in phase III of fruit growth on fruit quality in ‘lane late’ sweet orange

The aim of this work was to apply one strategy of deficit irrigation (DI) to improve the final fruit quality in 10-year-old ‘Lane late’ sweet orange grafted on Carrizo citrange (Citrus sinensis L. Osb. x Poncirus trifoliata L.). The experiment was carried out over 2 years in an experimental orchard located in Torre Pacheco (Murcia, south-east Spain). The deficit irrigation treatment consisted of the stopping of irrigation in phase III of fruit growth (1st October–28th February). The irrigation cut-off in phase III reduced the midday stem water potential, the plant water status being heavily influenced by rainfall. In both years, the DI treatment did not alter fruit yield although mean fruit weight was slightly reduced.

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24 Jan 2025
Blood orange

Good volume but smaller sizing on California organic citrus

Organic citrus supply is strong right now. “We’re at the heart of the season for the next 90 days–we’re going on all cylinders on all categories,” says Craig Morris, citrus category director for Homegrown Organic Farms. Those citrus categories include Blood oranges, Cara Caras, grapefruit, lemons, mandarins, Navel oranges, and Pomelos. Next month, it will start with Minneolas and Gold Nuggets as well. “From a volume perspective, we’re probably down about 10 percent this year overall and that’s primarily because our size structure is down about ½ to a full size on most commodities. So there are overall boxes lost because of that,” says Morris, adding that this is because it’s been a relatively dry season so far. “Normally, we have a better range of sizes and we’re hoping to make up some ground because we’re a long way from being done.”

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24 Jan 2025
Post-harvest technology

Challenges and opportunities in the post-harvest sector for 2025

The post-harvest sector is undergoing a transformation, driven by growing challenges and opportunities for innovation. In 2025, key market players—producers, exporters, and marketers—face pressing issues such as rising energy costs, process optimization, and compliance with increasingly stringent quality standards. In this context, Maf Roda firmly believes that automation and artificial intelligence will be essential drivers to meet these demands.

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24 Jan 2025
Shade cloth over citrus

FINAL REPORT: Integrated pest management under nets in the Western Cape

We investigated the incidence of citrus pests under netted and in open orchards. Two sites with paired netted and open orchards in the Western Cape were used in the study, one near Porterville and one near De Doorns. Netting differed in the extent of coverage and maintenance of tears. The study found that pests differed more between sites than between open or netted orchards. The differences between pests in netted and open orchards was more pronounced when netting reached to the ground and was repaired regularly.

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25 Nov 2024

Fruit thinning chemical agents improves fruit size and quality in ‘kinnow’ Mandarin

‘Kinnow’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) fruit needs to be thinned to increase the availability of photosynthates used to increase fruit size, fruit quality, profitability and can also help to overcome alternate bearing. This study evaluated ‘Kinnow’ fruit thinning using three chemical agents with different levels of concentration i.e. naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) @ 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 gL 1; 3,5,6 trichloro 2 pyridyloxyacetic acid (3,5,6 TPA) at TPA at 0.2, 0.5, and 0.7 gL 1, and ethephon @ at 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 gL 1, in Pakistani orchards just after the June fruit drop for two growing seasons 2017 19. Fruit weight was increased due to chemical thinning application when compared with the respective controls.

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