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Tag: Citrus

27 Jun 2023
Flooding
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Citrusdal community bands together to get back on their feet after flood

Rain is still falling over Citrusdal where food has had to be flown in by helicopter to stranded inhabitants after the town’s entrance road was washed away, and now the remaining electricity line has also fallen victim to the flood.  It is expected that the rain will ease off from Wednesday. In the port of Cape Town very high swells have meant that vessels couldn’t enter the harbour; there are currently three vessels waiting to come into port.

Repairs to the town bridge over the Olifants River which was washed away are underway, including correcting the course of the swollen river.

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25 May 2023
Boron Stress on Citrus
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Citrus Physiological and Molecular response to Boron Stresses

Since the essentiality of boron (B) to plant growth was reported nearly one century ago, the implication of B in physiological performance, productivity and quality of agricultural products, and the morphogenesis of apical meristem in plants has widely been studied. B stresses (B deficiency and toxicity), which lead to atrophy of canopy and deterioration of Citrus fruits, have long been discovered in citrus orchards. This paper reviews the research progress of B stresses on Citrus growth, photosynthesis, light use efficiency, nutrient absorption, organic acid metabolism, sugar metabolism and relocation, and antioxidant system. Moreover, the beneficial effects of B on plant stress tolerance and further research in this area were also discussed.

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21 Apr 2023
Wind damaged citrus
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Windbreaks – Increased Focus Needed

South-easterly winds coincide with the first 12 weeks after mandarin petal drop. When these winds become more intense between October and December, they can cause up to 87% of the severe wind-scar damage seen in a season. However, says Heinrich Geldenhuys, such losses can be minimised with suitable windbreaks or other forms of wind protection, resulting in higher export volumes of quality fruit. Geldenhuys is a junior researcher who graduated in April 2022 with an MSc in Horticultural Science degree from Stellenbosch University (SU).

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25 Nov 2022
Fruit size in Star Ruby Grapefruit.
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The usage of auxins with various cultural techniques to increase fruit size in Star Ruby Grapefruit

Fruit size is a key parameter for quality and increases the profitability for export markets in citrus production in Turkey. Fruit size can be enhanced by several techniques such as girdling and thinning. Various plant growth regulators are known to affect the growth and size of citrus fruit. Thus the effects of synthetic auxin applications (2,4-DP and 3,5,6-TPA) at different physiological periods, girdling practices, pruning practices, foliar application of potassium and various combinations of these practices on the fruit size and yield, fruit retention rate, and leaf chlorophyll concentration and fluorescence of Star Ruby grapefruit cultivar were investigated.

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25 Nov 2022
Trunk girdling in Marisol Clementines.
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The effect of combined deficit irrigation and summer trunk girdling on the internal fruit quality of ‘Marisol’ Clementines

The influence of girdling, deficit irrigation, and a combination of girdling and deficit irrigation on fruit quality of ‘Marisol’ Clementines was investigated over two seasons, 1998 and 1999, at two different sites in South Africa. Girdling increased the total soluble solids (TSS) by 2-10%,however, the effect was not always significant. There were no trends observed for external fruit colour, fruit diameter, juice content (%), titratable acidity (TA) and TSS:TA ratios due to girdling.

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26 Oct 2022
Climate change on Citrus
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The Future of Citrus Fruit: The impact of climate change on citriculture.

Current citriculture is threatened by climate change. The increase in temperature, together with other adverse climate phenomena, is modifying the environmental conditions in the regions where citrus varieties are currently being developed. The detrimental effects of these adverse environmental factors on citrus physiology and production, such as drought or augmented soil salinity, will likely increase because of elevated temperatures, which will jeopardise crop production and, in extreme cases, even plant survival.

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26 Oct 2022
Citrus Pests
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Sustainability in Brazilian Citriculture: Three Decades of Successful Biological Control of Insect Pests

Citrus insect pests has grown worldwide, concerning entomologists and farmers especially because of the high demand for food that makes it to our tables. The use of pesticides brought several issues, such as the negative impacts on the human health, pollution, and insect resistance. In this context, more environmentally-friendly strategies have been demanded by governments and consumers. In this review, we present three remarkable examples of pest management in Brazil that involved many researchers from different expertise areas to develop more sustainable strategies to reduce the damages to citrus production.

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30 Sep 2022
Washington Navel Orange
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Effects of NAA and GA3 Sprays on Fruit Size and the Incidence of Creasing of ‘Washington’ Navel Orange

‘Washington’ navel orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.] orchards in Israel suffer from creasing – a physiological disorder of the fruit, leaving the fruit unsuitable for the fresh fruit market. Many ‘Washington’ navel orchards tend to bear small size fruit with low market value. This paper presents two experiments, in which the effects of naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA, 300 mg·L-1) on yield, fruit size, fruit quality and the incidence of creasing of ‘Washington’ navel orange were examined. The NAA effects were compared to those of gibberellic acid (GA3, 20 mg·L-1) – the common treatment for creasing reduction. In the first experiment, 36% of the fruit of the control trees suffered from severe creasing. The NAA sprays in May (at 18-mm fruitlet diameter) and in June (at 30-mm fruitlet diameter) reduced the incidence of creasing to 9 and 6% respectively, while the GA3 spray at August reduced the incidence of creasing to 17% of the fruit.

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