Fundecitrus launches campaign “Greening is serious”

Fundecitrus launches this Wednesday (2/2) the “Greening is a serious thing” campaign, due to the severity of the disease in the citrus belt of São Paulo and Triângulo/Southwest Mineiro, which is the largest orange producing region in the world, especially in some regions of São Paulo.

A survey carried out in 2021 by Fundecitrus showed that greening reached its highest average rate, 22,37%, with critical incidences in the regions of Limeira (61,75%), Brotas (50,40%), Porto Ferreira (37,84% ), Avaré (29,41%) and Duartina (26,15%), with some aggravating factors: in Brotas, six out of every ten adult orange trees are sick, and in Limeira, seven out of every ten have the disease, in addition to a high percentage of contaminated young plants (27,9% and 32%), numbers similar to those in Florida, the main citrus growing region in the United States, which has been seriously damaged by the disease and is expected to harvest its smallest orange crop this year.

In view of this, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the danger that the disease represents for such an important activity and encourage the union of all links in the citrus chain for joint, urgent and rigorous actions aimed at reducing the incidence of greening.

“In São Paulo, if the work is done with extreme rigor by everyone, we can certainly reverse the situation. We have the knowledge and technologies necessary for this, so it is essential that citrus growers do their part”, says the general manager of Fundecitrus, Juliano Ayres. “An example of this is the Matão region [in the center of the state], where the disease has already affected more than 21% of plants [2017] and is declining, affecting less than 10% today” he argues.

The campaign's main piece is a film in which Rolando Boldrin, an artist who, among other characteristics, has a very strong relationship with the country culture of the interior of São Paulo and with rural people, gives a message, in a moving interpretation, about the seriousness of the situation and the importance of acting immediately with the knowledge available today, developed by Fundecitrus and partner institutions. To watch, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fQAC0C7u7A.

Greening is the worst citrus disease

Greening is considered the most destructive disease in the world's citrus industry today and there is still no cure. The disease is present in the Americas, Asia and Africa. In Brazil, it has caused the elimination of more than 61 million trees since 2005 (Coord. de Defesa Agropecuária - CDA, 2021), one year after being identified, in the Matão region.