There’s been much talk about the “tree of the future” in the Florida citrus industry. That’s a tree with the trifecta of HLB-resistance, great quality and strong yield. So far, that perfect combination has not been found. But the search is on.

This was a topic of discussion during the December episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, joins the episode to give an update on the progress being made toward a tree that has the necessary HLB tolerance to be a viable candidate to help turn the industry around.

Rogers discusses the conventional breeding efforts and work in gene editing and transgenics aimed at delivering a rootstock of variety tolerant or resistant to HLB. While progress is being made, he cautioned it is still some time yet before this research yields a tree that is commercially available to growers. But he added that getting new varieties to growers faster is understood, as evidenced by the way the research community is approaching the task.

John Chater, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticultural sciences, also joins the podcast to discuss his collaborations with growers to evaluate varieties and rootstocks that have exhibited better tolerance to HLB. He commented on results of the recent Florida Citrus State of the Industry Survey conducted by Citrus Industry.

Also in the December podcast episode, Chris Oswalt, UF/IFAS citrus Extension agent, shares some tips to prepare for winter and the steps to take should freeze protection be necessary. His main take-home message is to have a plan and know exactly what you need to do when a freeze is forecast. Don’t want until to the day before to prepare.

The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

In November, academia from around the world gathered in Jeju, Korea, for the 2024 International Citrus Congress. A contingent of researchers from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) attended the event.

Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, was among the attendees. He discusses the trip in the November episode of the All In For Citrus podcast. Rogers describes citrus growing on the island of Jeju. There’s about 54,000 acres of citrus grown there with annual production of about 15 million boxes. There is no confirmed presence of HLB on the island.

HLB was a major topic of discussion during the event. Water availability was also a focus of the presentations. Many citrus production regions are facing water shortfalls. This is expected to get worse as the climate changes and more demand is put on water supplies.

Brazil is one of those regions dealing with water availability. The country’s last crop was reduced by about 20% due to drought stress. Brazil also has seen a spike in HLB infection rates, which is forcing growers to plant new groves north of the current main growing regions.

Mohammad Shahid, UF/IFAS assistant professor of horticulture, also joined the podcast to provide an update on the cold-hardy citrus region. Production continues to expand in the area with some 7,000 to 8,000 acres of citrus.

Also in the November episode, Flavia Zambon discusses a field day hosted at the UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce, Florida. The field day featured a tour of the experimental Millennium Block, which is evaluating HLB tolerance of various rootstock/scion combinations. The block is one of the largest trials for HLB tolerance in grapefruit.

On Oct. 9, Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Some key citrus-growing regions felt impacts from the storm. While damage was spotty, fruit loss was significant for some. Now, the waiting game is on to see how much more fruit drops from the stress to trees caused by the storm.

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) quickly organized a webinar after the storm to provide growers with information about resources available to rehab trees and seek financial assistance. The webinar is the topic of the October All In For Citrus podcast.

Michael Rogers, director of the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), shares highlights of the webinar and gives updates on what he was hearing and seeing in groves after the storm. He also discusses how CREC facilities and groves made it through the storm.

Chris Oswalt, UF/IFAS citrus Extension agent for Polk and Hillsborough counties, talks about the path of the storm and how it impacted various citrus-growing regions. He says the storm had a large wind field with 70 to 80 mph winds reaching well inland across Florida. He also draws some comparisons between Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Ian, which struck in 2022.

Tripti Vashisth, UF/IFAS associate professor of horticultural sciences, joins the podcast to provide guidance on the use of plant growth regulators to help reduce the amount of fruit drop in the wake of the storm. Applied in a timely manner, 2,4-D can reduce delayed fruit drop that could be caused by Milton.

To learn more about Hurricane Milton damage and resources available to help growers, don’t miss the October episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.