Read what studies show about citrus grove layout and Asian citrus psyllid populations that cause citrus greening.
Florida’s citrus industry is up for anything when it comes to trying to beat citrus greening, also known as HLB. Efforts have been focused heavily on stopping the Asian citrus psyllid, a minuscule insect that spreads the bacteria that causes citrus greening from citrus tree to citrus tree. See what one study shows about how citrus grove layout can affect Asian citrus psyllid populations in citrus orchards, according to an article in Citrus Industry Magazine, below.
Citrus Grove Layout and Asian Citrus Psyllid Populations
Entomologist Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) said that citrus grove layout factors, like windbreaks, grove orientation, and new planting resets versus solid settings, can all affect Asian citrus psyllid populations. For each factor she said:
Windbreaks. “Windbreaks are one of the best things that you can do in terms of protecting the grove.” It’s believed they create a barrier against the insects, “but also probably provide some shading of those border rows, which are the most attractive and tend to retain the highest populations of psyllids.”
Orientation. “The east-west orientation of rows had the greatest abundance of psyllids compared to the north-south orientation of rows. And a lot of that probably has to do with sunlight,” which psyllids like.
Resets/Solid Setting. “When you have psyllids in resets versus solid-set plantings, you’re going to see a greater abundance of psyllids in those solid-set plantings because those solid-set plantings are going to have just a boatload of flush. And they’re going to be very exposed to the sunlight as opposed to the resets, which are kind of protected by the surrounding trees,” she said. Thus, solid-set planting need more psyllid control efforts than resets.
Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.