All In For Citrus, Episode 76 December 2024

There’s been much talk about the “tree of the future” in the Florida citrus industry. That’s a tree with the trifecta of HLB-resistance, great quality and strong yield. So far, that perfect combination has not been found. But the search is on.

This was a topic of discussion during the December episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, joins the episode to give an update on the progress being made toward a tree that has the necessary HLB tolerance to be a viable candidate to help turn the industry around.

Rogers discusses the conventional breeding efforts and work in gene editing and transgenics aimed at delivering a rootstock of variety tolerant or resistant to HLB. While progress is being made, he cautioned it is still some time yet before this research yields a tree that is commercially available to growers. But he added that getting new varieties to growers faster is understood, as evidenced by the way the research community is approaching the task.

John Chater, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticultural sciences, also joins the podcast to discuss his collaborations with growers to evaluate varieties and rootstocks that have exhibited better tolerance to HLB. He commented on results of the recent Florida Citrus State of the Industry Survey conducted by Citrus Industry.

Also in the December podcast episode, Chris Oswalt, UF/IFAS citrus Extension agent, shares some tips to prepare for winter and the steps to take should freeze protection be necessary. His main take-home message is to have a plan and know exactly what you need to do when a freeze is forecast. Don’t want until to the day before to prepare.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.