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Tag: Citrus

23 Nov 2020
Climate Change
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Potential climate change impacts on citrus water requirement across major producing areas in the world.

Understanding how potential climate change will affect availability of water resources for citrus production globally is needed. The main goal of this study is to investigate impacts of potential future climate change on citrus irrigation requirements (IRR) in major global citrus producing regions, e.g., Africa, Asia, Australia, Mediterranean, Americas. The Irrigation Management System (IManSys) model was used to calculate optimum IRR for the baseline period (1986–2005) and two future periods (2055s and 2090s) subject to combination of five and seven temperature and precipitation levels, respectively. Predicted IRR show significant spatio-temporal variations across study regions. Future annual IRR are predicted to globally decrease; however, future monthly IRR showed mixed results.

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20 Oct 2020
Managing Salinity in Citrus
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Managing Salinity in Citrus

Although citrus (Citrus spp.) is sensitive to salinity, acceptable production can be achieved with moderate salinity levels, depending on the climate, scion cultivar, rootstock, and irrigation-fertilizer management. Irrigation scheduling is a key factor in managing salinity in areas with salinity problems. Increasing irrigation frequency and applying water in excess of the crop water requirement are recommended to leach the salts and minimize the salt concentration in the root zone. Overhead sprinkler irrigation should be avoided when using water containing high levels of salts because salt residues can accumulate on the foliage and cause serious injury. Much of the leaf and trunk damage associated with direct foliar uptake of salts can be reduced by using microirrigation systems.

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23 Sep 2020
Citrus
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Citrus industry negotiates a new trade deal

Cape Town – After eleven years of negotiations, South Africa’s citrus industry has been given the go-ahead to export to the Philippines, with the signing of a work plan between the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, and the Philippines Bureau of Plant and Industry.

Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza made the announcement yesterday as the South African citrus industry estimates that close to 500 000 tons of additional citrus would be available for export by 2024.

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23 Sep 2020
Coldling Moth
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South Africa takes proactive FCM measures with its EU citrus exports

For the first time since 2018 when the South African citrus industry introduced its False Codling Moth Management System, the citrus industry has had to intervene in its normal functioning to manage false codling moth.

The decision to strengthen the shipping protocol for South Africa’s oranges for the rest of the season, on very short notice, is made possible by the agility of its systems approach, says Deon Joubert, Citrus Growers’ Association envoy to the EU. The system’s requirements for continuous, thorough orchard and fruit monitoring had made it clear to the industry that there was a lot of false codling moth activity this year.

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23 Sep 2020
Citrus rootstock evaluation
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Citrus rootstock evaluation utilizing UAV-based remote sensing and artificial intelligence

The implementation of breeding methods requires the creation of a large and genetically diverse training population. Large-scale experiments are needed for the rapid acquisition of phenotypic data to explore the correlation between genomic and phenotypic information. Traditional sensing technologies forfield surveys and field phenotyping rely on manual sampling and are time consuming and labor intensive. Since availability of personnel trained for phenotyping is a major problem, small UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) equipped with various sensors can simplify the surveying procedure, decrease data collection time, and reduce cost.

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26 Aug 2020
Lemons
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2019–2020 Florida Citrus Production Guide: Plant Growth Regulators

Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are a tool used to manipulate vegetative and reproductive growth, flowering, and fruit growth and development. PGRs have been successfully used in agriculture for decades to amend plant growth characteristics and maximize yield and thus grower profit. Foliar-applied PGRs are routinely used in various fruit crops for flower and fruit thinning, improving fruit set, growth and development, controlling vegetative growth, and reducing fruit drop. Citrus is no exception to the use of PGRs, which can provide significant economic advantages to citrus growers when used appropriately.

According to the Florida state legislature, PGRs are defined “as any substance or mixture of substances intended, through physiological action, for accelerating or retarding the rate of growth or maturation or for otherwise altering the behavior of ornamental or crop plants or the produce thereof, but not including substances intended as plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional chemicals, plant inoculants, or soil amendments.”

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29 Jul 2020
Green Mold
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Bacillus sp. w176 against postharvest green mold in citrus

Citrus is one of the most important fruit crops in the world, and they are particularly susceptible to postharvest damage before they reach the market for fresh consumption after storage. Green mold caused by Penicillium digitatum is considered to be the main postharvest pathogen of citrus fruit with up to 60–80% decay under suitable environment conditions.

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29 Jul 2020
Lemons on Conveyor
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CBS detections will bring changes for future Argentinian lemon export campaigns

As of July 1, the suspension of Argentinian fresh lemon exports to Europe came into force following several detections of black spot in some shipments upon arrival at European ports.

“In the last two weeks, the number of black spot detections has skyrocketed, so we believe that this has been a correct and necessary measure. As a sector, we have to find where the problem is in order to solve it. We are concerned about what has taken place this campaign, but we are even more concerned about what is to come. That is why I think Argentina should soon review the lemon export protocol for Europe. It is clear that this situation will bring changes and adjustments for future campaigns,” says Francisco Rotella, commercial director of the Argentinian lemon producer and marketer Citrusvil.

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