All In For Citrus, Episode 41 January 2022

It’s tough to be a citrus grower in Florida right now. In the January All In For Citrus podcast episode, Michael Rogers discusses the challenging environment for growers. Below-average prices and low yields are among the major obstacles.

However, the UF/IFAS citrus researchers and Extension agents continue to work hard on behalf of growers, looking for tools they can use now to stay afloat. Rogers, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center director, notes several events in February to get important information out to growers. He also discusses the search for two new positions on the team to further help producers.

UF/IFAS citrus horticulturist Fernando Alferez joins the podcast from the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC) to provide an update on individual protective covers, which researchers are testing on young citrus. He and his team just concluded a multi-year trial on the system and saw both an increase in quality and yield. In addition, Alferez details results of some in-season treatments of relatively inexpensive products that are showing less fruit drop in Hamlin groves.

Reducing fruit drop is also something Ute Albrecht, a UF/IFAS plant physiologist at the SWFREC, is seeing in her trunk-injection research. Albrecht joins the podcast episode to share findings from a multi-year study in which a single injection reduced fruit drop dramatically. She talks about the challenges of the delivery system and new technology that may make it a practical option for growers. Albrecht reminds growers that trunk injection is still being studied and not a recommendation from advisors.