The Brazilian Citriculture Defense Fund is working hard to promote the campaign United Against Greening. Now, the campaign extends to the citrus belt urban areas, areas where, at first, there is no management of the disease. The new stage of the work wants to mobilize the population of these areas, and in rural areas as well, where there are no commercial groves, as it’s the case of small farms and ranches.

In order to do that, Fundecitrus has hired a new team, which is developing actions in these places. One of them is the replacement of orange and lemon trees with other fruit varieties. The teams have visited homes and schools as well, to talk about the campaign. The actions to exchange the plants are carried out through home visits, and have the support of lectures for students and teachers of municipal schools, production of printed materials and cars with sound system to bring information to the community. So far more than 2,000 plants have been exchanged. “Citrus and myrtle plants in towns make it difficult to fight citrus greening on commercial properties. Developing this work in areas with no management is extremely important due to the destructive potential of the disease, “says Fundecitrus agronomist, Mr. Ivaldo Sala, work coordinator.

The teams work in partnership with town halls and companies to exchange myrtles, and orange, lemon and mandarin trees contaminated with citrus greening, which hasn’t received the chemical control recommended, for other fruit and ornamental trees. The psyllid, citrus greening transmitting insect, when feeding on orange, lemon and mandarin trees infected with the disease, it acquires the bacterium and starts to spread it. The insect travels long distances, leaves the urban area and arrives in the rural area, contaminating the groves.

*pictures gently provided by Fundecitrus

According to Fundecitrus researcher Mr. Marcelo Scapin, one of the people responsible for the system, the information allows the citrus grower to manage the control of diseases and pests without wasting the pesticides, using only the volume needed. “The citrus growers will be able to adjust the volume and pesticide rates, and adjust the equipment in the right way”, he says. The accurate control reflects in a smaller amount of product waste, avoiding soil contamination, and making the operation even more sustainable.

According to Fundecitrus, with the app it’s possible to reduce the water volume up to 70% to control the psyllid, up to 60% for postbloom fruit drop, 30% for citrus leprosis, and between 40 and 50% for citrus black spot. “The SPIF is a way to take the knowledge generated by research to the citrus growers in a more practical and accessible way”, says Mr. Scapin.

To do the math, the SPIF was based on the results of research on Application Technology that have been carried out in Fundecitrus for over ten years for citrus leprosis, citrus black spots, citrus canker, postbloom fruit drop (PFD) and psyllids. The purpose of the system is to provide these results in a practical way to be applied in the field and to assist in the correct sizing of the spraying.

The app is available for free in the desktop version (offline) and can be also accessed at the Fundecitrus website (Click here). A mobile version will be launched soon, available for Android, IOS and Windows.

To know more about the new technology check the link, in Portuguese

http://www.fundecitrus.com.br/comunicacao/noticias/integra/fundecitrus-lanca-aplicativo-para-ajudar-a-calcular-pulverizacoes/478

The service has been offered for free to citrus growers since 2004, when citrus greening appeared in the groves of São Paulo. It meets the demand of producers who have questions related to the presence or not of the disease in the groves. In addition to HLB, a diagnosis is also made for CVC (citrus variegated chlorosis). In this case, the number of plants assessed was 7.4 thousand, from 2008 to 2016.

“The demand for analyzis today is lower due to the greater knowledge of the symptoms of HLB on the part of the citrus growers and the low index of CVC in the citrus park. But even so, the demand is high because the diagnosis gives certainty about the infection or not of the plant”, says Fundecitrus researcher Mr. Nelson Arno Wulff, responsible for the laboratory.

In 2016, a new device was acquired for the laboratory that provides economy and agility in the diagnostic process and it allows to reduce the analysis time from 30 minutes to 2 and a half minutes. In addition to optimizing the analyzis, the equipment brought savings of 27% in material expenses.

“The laboratory is always looking to deliver faster and faster results, with less reagent use and less waste, following the trend of sustainability-driven diagnostics”, says Wulff.

More information on sample shipment is available at: http://www.fundecitrus.com.br/pesquisa/laboratorio

The results of the “Pesquisa de Estimativa de Safra-PES” (Crop Forecast Research) give the true dimension of citrus cultivation and contribute to the planning of the future of the sector, so that the culture remains one of the most important socially and economically. In São Paulo State the citrus sector is among the 20 main job creators*.

*See our last post about job creations in the citrus sector here

Annually, Fundecitrus research agents visit citrus belt properties to collect information on the number of bearing and non-bearing trees, irrigated areas, cultivated varieties, age, new plantings or eradications.

From the results, it will be possible to make a more accurate planning of the production and commercialization of the products that have the orange as raw material.

The statistical method used in the census and in the crop forecast of Fundecitrus has never been done before. It is the result of a combination of what was best done by the juice industries in their own census and forecasts since 1987. The improvement of the method counted on the advice of the Statistics Department of the State University of São Paulo (UNESP / FCAV), Markestrat and the Economics and Management Department of the University of São Paulo.

One of the measures of governance adopted was the structuring of committees composed by citrus growers, representatives of orange juice companies, lawyers and academics. Throughout the development of this inventory, several meetings were held in which actions, goals and indicators were analyzed with the purpose of proposing technical improvements for the accomplishment of the project activities.

The results of the crop estimate are published every May, with updates in September, December and February, after monitoring the development of the fruits in the orange trees. The crop closes in April, when the size of fruits and the rate of fruit droppage are also released.

See here more information about the beginning of the project and click here to download the inventory in english.

The orange production was the segment that created more jobs in 2016, among all agricultural categories in the state of São Paulo. According to the General Registry of Admitted and Laid-Off Workers (CAGED, in Portuguese), the agency linked to the Ministry of Labor and Employment of Brazil, from January to August 2016, the citriculture had 30,709 admissions. This amount also puts the sector among the 20 main job creators of the state.

The citriculture positive impact in creating jobs is due the extensive use of manpower, specially during the harvest. To show what this means, just take a look at January 2016, there was 47,071 workers at the orange groves in the State of São Paulo. Considering that, according to Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, in Portuguese), the orange planted area in the state of São Paulo is of 412,861 hectares, it’s possible to see that the citriculture employs one worker every nine hectares. Just for comparison, the same calculation made with sugar cane shows that the activity creates one job every 80 hectares. Which means, one hectare of orange creates nine more jobs than one hectare of sugar cane.

The impact of orange in job creation is so great that from the 10 municipalities of São Paulo with the higher number of admissions in agriculture, listed by CAGED, seven are considered citrus hub, as it is with the first three places: Bebedouro, Matão and Mogi Guaçu. In these towns, the citriculture participation in creating agricultural jobs is of 24%, 23% and 65%, respectively. In towns like Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, this percentage it’s up to 66%.

The numbers are meaningful, specially when considering the job crisis in Brazil. According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the month of September was the 18^th straight month of closing formal jobs. In other words, in the past year and a half, there was more layoffs than hiring in the Brazilian economy. This way, the citriculture’ profile as a job-creating activity has a significant impact in the towns where it’s present.

The sustainability of the citrus chain was the central theme at the 13^th International Citrus Congress, one of the main citrus event in the world. From September 18^th to 23^rd, the event, which took place in Foz do Iguaçu, in the state of Paraná, south region of Brazil, gathered over 1 thousand participants from 35 countries to debate the main challenges of the sector.

In over 18 plenary sessions, the event, organized by the Agronomic Institute of Paraná (IAPAR), in partnership with the Agronomic Institute of Campinas, discussed what’s new in cultivation science, pest control, fertilization and plant nutrition, and also technological innovation for the fruit processing industry. One of the key themes was the discussion around the scientific way to introduce citrus greening genetically resistant plants, one of the main citrus’ disease. “The goal of the event is to generate knowledge to expand the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the citrus agribusiness”, highlighted Mr. Eduardo Fermino Carlos, IAPAR researcher and member of the Congress’ organization committee.

Now, for the coordinator of the Citrus Health department of the Agricultural Defense Agency of Paraná (Adapar), the public agency link to the state government of Paraná, Mr. José Grossi, the discussions during the event will meet the demand for products with less agrochemicals during the process of fruit production. “The trend is to reduce the use of agrochemicals in the groves, complying with the environmental and consumer requirements”, he underlined. “It’s up to science, research and agricultural extension to help the grower seek efficiency under the financial, environmental and human health aspect as well”, he added.

Around the Brazilian citrus activity was built an important technological park, which in the last few years has generated a series of knowledge on varieties, ways of planting, sanitary control, and several other essential points for the sustainability of this agricultural activity. One of the center of excellence in research focused on citrus is the Sylvio Moreira Citrus Center, linked to the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC), an agency linked to the Secretariat of Agriculture of the state of São Paulo.

Founded in 1928, the center is located in a 70.2 hectares area and has 63 researchers. Among the main lines of scientific and technological research for the citrus industry are production and supply of seeds, buds, seedlings and genetic arrays, diagnoses of citrus pathogens, quality analysis of fruits, among others.

Besides working on a series of studies and researches, the Center works as an important information spreader, offering a series of free courses during the year. One of the most wanted is a citrus diseases course, which offers a series of lectures with some of the main experts in the country on a number of illnesses that strike the groves.

The Center also works as a kind of meeting point of the Brazilian citrus chain. After all, every year it is the host of one of the most traditional citrus events in the country, the Citrus Week. The event gathers different sector’s segment during a week to debate the paths of the citrus activity and to multiply the knowledge around the citrus production.

In Bebedouro, a small town in the countryside of the State of São Paulo, the traditional school lunch in all municipal public schools has been a joy not only to the excited children there but also the orange producers in the region. That’s because over two years ago the municipal government implemented a project that has put orange juice in the students’ daily menu. The initiative has made the per capita consumption of juice, within the six thousand children covered by this action, reach similar levels and even higher to the ones observed in some of the main consumer countries in the world. In Bebedouro’s public schools the consumption already reaches a rate of 25 liters per children/year. Compared to countries like Germany and France, the volume is 23 and 21 liters per capita/year, respectively. The average is also close to Canada’s, where each citizen drinks an average of 29 liters of 100% fruit juice per year and way above Brazil’s, with an annual per capita consumption of 0.5 liters.

Although this rate is restricted to a small group, the initiative shows potential on the demand existent in the state’s public schools. “This project is important because, besides encouraging demand, it also creates a new generation of orange juice consumers and has a health impact on children who has free access to vitamin-rich foods”, says Bebedouro’s mayor, Mr. Fernando Galvão.

The model implemented in the town counts on the participation of local companies, producers and co-operatives that provides juice and also peeled oranges to be served to the students. A total of 162 thousand liters of juice are distributed per year and around 7 thousand peeled oranges. According to the municipal government, 29 primary and middle schools are involved in the program. In order to do this work, the town has two machines, nicknamed “mechanical cows”, responsible for packing 200ml juice bags which are sent to the schools. Each machine has a capacity to pack up to 1800 juice bags per hour. “It’s a project that rescues a citrus tradition in our region and contributes to the students’ health”, says Mr. Galvão.

To make sure that the knowledge developed in laboratories and research fields reaches the orange groves has been one of the challenges of the Sylvio Moreira Citrus Center, one of the most traditional research organizations linked to the Secretariat of Agriculture of the state of São Paulo, focused on citrus studies in Brazil. Every year they organize a Citriculture Training, which aims to spread best practices and new technologies to several links in the production chain.

The action is in its 23^rd edition and each event runs for a week and covers subjects like Postharvest technology, Irrigation, Soil conservation, Nutrition and Fertilization, Agrochemical application technology, Crop planning, among others.

The profile of students includes small citrus growers from São Paulo and other states like Goiás, Minas Gerais and Paraná, experts from large citrus companies, agronomist connected to other states, professionals from supply companies in the citrus chain, graduation students, citrus growers’ sons, post-graduation students working with citrus. Besides, the training also includes professionals from other countries, specially Mexico and Costa Rica.

For more information on this initiative, you can access the Citrus Center website, in Portuguese, click here