Citrus Under Protective Screening, known under the acronym CUPS has benefits for growing citrus when it comes to hurricanes and more.
Citrus growers have been hearing about the benefits of utilizing Citrus Under Protective Screening, or CUPS, to combat citrus greening. Consisting of growing citrus trees under netting, Asian citrus psyllids, the vector that transmits the citrus greening bacteria, are unable to reach uninfected trees due to the netting. Citrus trees grow and produce fruit like they did before citrus greening. There are many additional benefits to the CUPS system as well, including hurricane protection, according to a Citrus Industry article. See the details below.
Benefits of Citrus Under Protective Screening
Citrus Under Protective Screening has shown to offer a viable way around citrus greening due to controlling Asian citrus psyllids. There are other benefits as well. The CUPS system protects against other citrus diseases and pests, allowing for fruit that is unmarred by blemishes or sunburns.
CUPS also showed an ability to minimize damage to citrus from violent storms, as evidenced by how they weathered Hurricane Irma. Arnold Schumann, a faculty member at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in Lake Alfred, said “After Irma, we found widespread but not catastrophic damage, mainly due to high winds over a long time. The trees inside the CUPS were mostly unaffected, with almost no fruit drop occurring and no canopy damage. A few trees growing in pots were leaning over or fell over due to the wind.”
Citrus growers suffered widespread damage to citrus crops and groves due to the winds and rains of Hurricane Irma. Improvements have already been made to help the CUPS system further withstand similar storms.
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.