An important area of international agribusiness, Brazilian citrus farming will benefit from a strategic partnership with the establishment of the Center for Applied Research in Innovation and Sustainability in Citrus Farming - CPA Citros. The new center, based at Esalq, is the result of an agreement that will encompass efforts from the Luiz de Queiroz Higher School of Agriculture (Esalq/USP), the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp), and the Citrus Defense Fund (Fundecitrus) in combating citrus diseases.
In total, the agreement, which will be signed on the 12th at Esalq in Piracicaba (SP), foresees an investment of R$ 90 million over the next five years. The main line of work of the CPA Citros will be to promote the formation of new research groups and consolidate others already established, aiming at the control of citrus greening, particularly in areas of knowledge not currently covered.
“Greening demands this institutional and scientific effort due to its capacity to negatively impact orchard productivity, jeopardizing the sustainability of a production chain. The CPA Citros was conceived to discover pathways and, very soon, offer answers for the most effective management of the disease. Our work will focus on meeting this crucial demand and minimizing the impact on harvests,” reinforces researcher Lilian Amorim, from Esalq/USP and director of CPA Citros.
According to Juliano Ayres, executive director of Fundecitrus, the CPA Citros represents a collectively built achievement and a strategic advancement for citrus farming. “The center embodies the union of efforts around a common goal: the sustainable strengthening of citrus farming in São Paulo. The initiative reinforces the sector's commitment to tackling citrus greening and developing solutions that ensure the economic and phytosanitary viability of the activity in the future,” says Ayres.
The main lines of academic research at CPA Citros involve understanding pathogen-plant-vector interactions, with an emphasis on the histopathology, physiology and metabolism of the host (citrus), the genetics of plant-pathogen-host interactions, and the consequences of climate change. Research encompasses the management of citrus greening, with an emphasis on host genetic resistance and on chemical, biological, physical, and cultural control measures for the bacteria and its vector.
Another applied line of research, focused on mitigating damage and increasing production, will emphasize the production system, plant nutrition and damage reduction, loss assessment, risk of disease occurrence, and economic analysis of management measures and their impacts. In the future, research on other aspects of the crop may be developed.
In addition to Esalq and Fundecitrus, CPACitros will include researchers from other USP units (Cena, FZEA, FCFRP), UFSCar, Unicamp, Instituto Biológico, Unesp, IAC, and Embrapa. Researchers from foreign institutions, such as the Center for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Development - Cirad (France), the Spanish National Research Council - CSIC (Spain), the Andalusian Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries, Food and Ecological Production Research and Training - Ifapa (Spain), the University of Florida (USA), the University of California (USA), the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland Government (Australia), Durham University (England), the University of Cambridge (England), the University of Warwick (England), and the University of Algarve (Portugal) will also collaborate.
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