The UF/IFAS Tip of the Week shares why controls for OTC injections are such a necessity.
Florida citrus growers have been administering oxytetracycline (OTC) injections for two years, and while some citrus growers are seeing progress, others feel they are not. A UF/IFAS Tip of the Week article maintained the numerous field trials “found that OTC injections significantly increased fruit yield, fruit quality and juice quality,” while “results varied based on factors such as tree age, tree health status, scion and rootstock variety, trial location and the amount of OTC injected.” Recent hurricanes caused crop losses that diminished positive responses. All these factors can make it difficult to see positive responses, so the recommendation from UF/IFAS is to use a control. See the necessity of controls for OTC injections below.
Controls for OTC Injections
The article shared that “Controls are trees that have not received the therapy (non-injected trees) and that can be compared against trees that have received it (OTC-injected trees).” It added that “Only by comparing treated trees against non-treated (control) trees can an accurate assessment of the impact of a treatment be determined.”
Other comparisons will not be enough evidence. The article maintained that “Comparing one year’s yield and pounds solid against the previous year’s, or comparing one location with another location, will not allow you to determine the true efficacy of a treatment.”
The article shared an anecdotal story to prove the point:
It shares about “a Hamlin trial where two consecutive years of injection were performed. The trial was in the main path of Hurricane Milton and experienced fruit loss of more than 50%. While fruit loss was extensive in both injected and non-injected trees, we still harvested up to 2.5-fold more fruit when trees had been injected. The trees were 18 years old at the time of the first injection…In fact, despite the fruit loss from Milton, trees that received this treatment had the same yield as in the previous year while the yield for the control trees was reduced by half. Fruit were also larger and had more soluble solids.”
The article summarized that “If planning to move forward with OTC injections, or testing other novel treatments, it is therefore advised to leave a group of trees untreated in each location to serve as a control to truly assess treatment efficacy.”
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.
