CITRUS (ORANGE TREES)
OCALA, FL - 2012
Orange trees are widely grown in tropical and subtropical climates for its sweet fruit, which can be eaten fresh or processed to obtain juice, and for its fragrant peel. They have been the most cultivated tree fruit in the world since 1987 and sweet oranges account for approximately 70% of the citrus production. In 2010, 68.3 million tonnes of oranges were grown worldwide, particularly in Brazil and in the US states of California and Florida. The citrus industry however if facing one of the largest and most potentially devastating threats in the history of its cultivation. A bacterial disease with no apparent cure, that has infected all 32 of the states citrus-growing counties in the US.
Although the disease, citrus greening, was first spotted in Florida in 2005, this year’s losses from it are by far the most extensive. While the bacteria, which causes fruit to turn bitter and drop from the trees when still unripe, affects all citrus fruits, it has been most devastating to oranges, the largest crop. So many have been affected that the United States Department of Agriculture has downgraded its crop estimates five months in a row.
The disease, which can lie dormant for years, is spread by the tiny Asian citrus psyllid. It snacks on citrus trees, depositing bacteria that gradually starves trees of nutrients by attacking the root system and as a result, the fruit turns green and falls from the trees long before they reach maturity. Although citrus greening stands to cause the most significant damage, the historically canker disease and hard freezes also remain major threats as well.
The limitation of locations like Florida is that the soils are generally sandy, with low organic content and low levels of beneficial microbiology. The natural micro and macro elements that would otherwise assist in boosting a plants natural disease fighting abilities are limited. With that in mind, although we are in the early stages of implementation, Micronomix has shown tremendous potential in not only addressing general deficiencies with the citrus trees, specifically helping with keeping fruit on the trees, increasing yield and quality of the produce, but also most importantly combating the green disease.
In 2012, Micronomix, a firm based in Florida, starting treating citrus trees that we under sever stress due to Greening. The farmer of the orchard was actually intending to uproot the trees, considering them a lost cause. The treatment started with a single trunk and soil application of Micronomix products to a section of the infected orchard. 10 days later, the trees show brand new signs of life, with new shoots emerging in many different places.
