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Texas A&M citrus scientist proposes Orange RevolutionThreats to the industry may force changes Texas
A scientist in Weslaco thinks it's time for a citrus revolution. He says he has the tools to help growers survive today's adversities by making major changes and improvements in the way they produce fruit. Dr. Mani Skaria, a plant pathologist at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Citrus Center at Weslaco, said planting ultra-high density orchards with micro-budded trees has the potential to rescue the nation's stressed citrus industry. "I call it the 'Orange Revolution,' and this is the time to do it," Skaria said. "When things are not going right, it's time to make a change. Using these strategies, citrus growers can increase profits while saving time, space and money. It will help them survive the challenges that threaten the industry today." Those threats include new citrus diseases, hurricanes, freezes, soaring land prices, urbanization, labor shortages and ecological factors, Skaria said. "We have to look at the successes of the apple industry in North America and Europe," he said. "In the late 1980s in Washington, growers normally planted 200 or fewer trees per acre. Back then, some growers went to 400 trees and people thought they were crazy. Today, high density apple groves are planted with 1,600 to 2,400 trees per acre. Growers not only stayed in business, they started making money again. They made a huge comeback." Skaria is convinced citrus growers can make similar strides by increasing orchard density using trees propagated by micro-budding, a technique he developed in the mid-1990s. "Growers here in the Rio Grande Valley currently plant about 121 trees per acre," Skaria said. "In California, I know of one grower who has successfully grown about 900 grapefruit trees per acre. Growers here could successfully plant at least 500 trees per acre using micro-budded trees under drip irrigation." Skaria's method of micro-budding trees dramatically reduces the time and costs associated with the century-old method of mechanically grafting buds from tasty fruit trees onto hardy sour orange rootstocks. Traditionally, a budded tree is kept for 18 months or more in a nursery before it can be transplanted to an orchard where it spends another three to four years maturing sufficiently to produce fruit, Skaria said. In micro-budding, rootstocks are grown from seeds in tube-like containers. Under a microscope, a single bud is then inserted into the rootstock. Within two or three weeks, the newly budded rootstock begins to grow and is soon ready for transplanting to an orchard. "Micro-budding eliminates the nursery stage and reduces the entire process it takes before you can see fruit on trees. In just two years, sometimes less, a grower can go from planting to fruit production," he said. Skaria planted his first micro-budded orchard in the summer of 1997 and, by the fall of 1999, several varieties of micro-budded citrus, including lemons, oranges and grapefruit, were producing fruit and continue to do well today. The potential benefits to growers are many, he said. With lower costs per tree, growers can plant higher-density orchards, reduce water, pesticide and fertilizer costs, and get increased returns on their investment sooner. And unlike conventional grafting methods that can be done only in the spring and fall when tree sap is flowing, micro-budding can be done year-round. Several commercial operations in the Rio Grande Valley are already experimenting with micro-budded, ultra-high density citrus trees. These range from a 3-acre plot to a 20-acre orchard where 7,000 such trees were planted, Skaria said. "Another grower here is inter-planting micro-budded trees among his mature conventional trees, and commercial growers in California and Peru have also successfully used my technique and report to me that they have saved a lot of time and expenses and are already making substantial profits," he said. Mark McCaleb farms 30 acres of citrus north of Weslaco. He's devoted three acres to Skaria's citrus planting technique. "There may be some resistance to this new method," McCaleb said, "but I see it as the only way to go. The return on your investment is much sooner. And the cost of planting trees is considerably less. A conventional tree, including all expenses, costs about $14 per tree. Micro-budded trees cost only $3." McCaleb said the practice of planting fewer citrus trees per acre began before the advent of chemical weed control when orchards required space to maneuver tractors and implements to remove weeds mechanically. "It's an outdated practice of planting for the sake of an outdated method of weeding," he said. Barbara Storz, a Texas AgriLife Extension Service horticulture agent in Hidalgo County, is sold on Skaria's new citrus technique. "The projected yields are amazing," she said. "And urbanization, especially when it encroaches on prime farmland, will force agriculture to high-density planting. Farming is changing; we don't have the huge acreage we used to. So we need to be creative, and Dr. Skaria's new trees and planting methods show great promise. It's the future of citrus production." Ray Prewett, president of Texas Citrus Mutual, said Skaria's technique offers both promise and challenges. "This certainly is something of interest," he said, "especially with some of the threats out there that might require growers to do more replanting than they'd like. It's not being discussed much here, but in Florida where citrus greening disease is endemic, they're talking about citrus as a rotational crop because the expected life of a tree would be limited." Prewett said that while the high-density technique has its challenges, the industry will keep a close eye on its progress. "The challenge would be protecting such small trees from damage from wildlife and making pesticide applications in narrow spacing. We'll continue to examine how well this technique does, but outside factors like greening could trigger large-scale use of Dr. Skaria's technique. We admire him for thinking outside the box, so to speak, to come up with potential solutions." Skaria and four other researchers at the Citrus Center have submitted grant proposals to conduct large-scale, long-term testing of his technique compared to conventional plantings. One of the collaborators, Dr. John da Graca, the Citrus Center director and an expert in citrus greening, said such research is critical in the battle against diseases. "There are several devastating citrus diseases out there and our challenge is to find ways to counter them," he said. "A short-term tree life with economical production is certainly a viable way to do that." Skaria said Florida citrus growers and others who travel to Texas to inspect his new orchards are impressed with the technique, yet concedes change will take time. "It's a matter of having the will to make this change happen," he said. "We have to make adjustments to our growing methods and to our mind-set so that we can consider the possibilities. Diseases like citrus greening may force growers to make these changes because they will limit the life of trees." Citrus greening is an incurable disease of citrus trees caused by a bacterium spread by insects called psyllids. Greening has been confirmed in Florida and Louisiana but not in Texas, although psyllids have been found throughout South Texas. Symptoms of greening include yellowing of leaves and discoloration of fruit that eventually develops a very bitter taste. Eventually, trees drop their fruit, go into decline and die. Skaria said he was encouraged to persist in finding a new, cheaper and quicker way to produce fruit when he realized that freezes, diseases, high initial investments and increasing land values in South Texas were pushing many growers out of the business. "I just knew there had to be a better way to do things," he said. "The apple industry now equates high-density planting with successful profits. I'm sure eventually citrus growers will too, and now is the time to start. Let us begin the orange revolution in Texas." 11/10/08 Date: 11/4/08
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