Fundecitrus Greening Tactical Committee meets for the first time to discuss actions to combat the disease

The members of the Fundecitrus Greening Tactical Committee, made up of citrus growers, companies, industry professionals, scientists and representatives of public teaching and research institutions, met yesterday (14/12) at the Fundecitrus headquarters, in Araraquara (SP) .

Contextualizing the formation of the Committee, the president of Fundecitrus, Lourival Carmo Monaco, highlighted the focus on the institution's strategic planning, which unfolds into thematic and operational planning. “The new model incorporates the knowledge accumulated over years and the new demands of the sector in the long term. The governance policy moves towards, in addition to greening, other priority themes for the survival and sustainability of the citrus production chain, such as harvest mechanization”, he points out.

greening

At the first meeting of the collegiate, after a detailed presentation on the serious situation of greening in the citrus belt of São Paulo and Triângulo/Southwest Mineiro – which includes incidence strata by region, property size and tree age, in addition to risk mapping for new plantings and renewal of orchards and adaptation of management according to the disease situation in the region, micro-region and surrounding the property – each member made their considerations about the seriousness of the problem, echoing the feeling of each link in the sector.

“The initial objective was to establish a level of information about greening in São Paulo and Minas Gerais and the reasons for the increase. Then, listen one by one, find out what they think, what the main difficulties in controlling the disease are and what they have in mind to reverse the situation”, explains Monaco.

Next, the work already carried out, the work in progress and the work planned to combat greening in the areas of Research and Development, Technology Transfer and Communication were presented.

Main points

The main debates throughout the presentations and considerations addressed economic issues (cost-benefit ratio of control in the short, medium and long term); better vector control (mainly rotation of the mode of action of agricultural pesticides to increase the assertiveness of applications, avoiding resistance); use of inefficient products to control the vector; incidence scenario and form of action to combat greening by region and micro-region; and Resolution 88 of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Supply (SAA) of the State of São Paulo (among other determinations, the new state legislation requires the elimination of symptomatic plants up to eight years after planting).

Monaco highlighted that, due to the sector's anxieties, the institution's Communication department, together with Research and Development and Technology Transfer, should focus on guidance content for citrus growers regarding the psyllid cycle and contamination; rotation of products by mode of action, which has been confused with rotation of chemical groups and active ingredients, to avoid selecting resistant psyllid populations; syrup volume; and spraying management, among others.

In addition to the president of Fundecitrus, the Fundecitrus Greening Tactical Committee has the following members: Alexandre Tachibana (Cambuhy Agrícola), Claudinei Ferretti (LDC Sucos), Dirceu Mattos Jr. (Centro de Citricultura “Sylvio Moreira”), Eduardo Andrade Lopes ( Citrosuco), Jesus Ferro (FCAV/Unesp Jaboticabal), João Roberto Spotti Lopes (Esalq/USP Piracicaba), Juliano Ayres (Fundecitrus), Luiz Fernando Girotto (Faro Capital), Marcelo Miranda (Fundecitrus), Marco Antonio Marchesi (Cutrale), Maurício Lemos Mendes da Silva (Gconci) and Renato Bassanezi (Fundecitrus). The purpose of the Committee is to create the Strategic Greening Planning, which will be evaluated by the Fundecitrus Deliberative Council.