Brazil develops flower rot control prediction system in citrus

By Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages

Fundecitrus developed, in partnership with universities, a system for predicting floral rot in citrus. The objective is to help the citrus grower in planning management actions, to optimize the control of this one of the most important fungal diseases that affect the flowers of different species and varieties of citrus in Brazil.

Brazil is especially vulnerable to citrus floral rot due to its periods of rain and humidity, which favor the disease. The best strategy for Brazilian citrus growers, therefore, is to protect the flowering orchards before the rains.

The Fundecitrus system, developed in partnership with the Esalq/USP faculty and the University of Florida (United States), sends daily alerts and weather forecasts. The municipalities in the five regions of the citrus belt in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais are covered.

Monitoring defines the risks of disease occurrence based on temperature and wetness data that estimate the germination of fungus spores. This weather information comes from more than 80 weather stations installed in different properties throughout the citrus belt, which automatically send the data to the system.

“The system has helped citrus growers to plan their disease control actions and reduce costs by up to 75%, which optimizes management and also reduces environmental impacts”, explains Fundecitrus researcher Geraldo Silva Jr., responsible for the system.

“Sending alerts not only through the system, automatically, but also by the Fundecitrus team, has been essential to helping citrus growers in decision making, as doubts related to flower rot control can be resolved immediately. Therefore, the system has brought many benefits to the citrus grower and we seek, every year, to make the alerts reach more people so that this disease is efficiently and sustainably controlled throughout the citrus sector”, concludes Silva Jr.