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“For the incidence to be zero, control needs to be ten”. This is the motto of the new Fundecitrus campaign to mitigate the incidence of greening in citrus groves in the citrus belt of the state of São Paulo and the Southwest Minas Gerais Triangle and in expansion areas. Launched this Monday, the 17th, the campaign highlights the need for strict control of the psyllid, especially in new regions where citrus farming is expanding, such as the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and other regions of Minas Gerais.
Given the high incidence of greening in some regions of the belt, some citrus growers have adopted the expansion of groves to new areas free of or with low levels of the disease. However, it is important that professionals reinforce control measures for both greening and other citrus diseases. For the executive director of Fundecitrus, Juliano Ayres (pictured above), the increase in commercial groves in the region is a major factor in the natural spread of the psyllid, which aggravates the spread of the disease.
“For this reason, putting into practice the management practices already known is a constant task for new areas. Rotating insecticide modes of action, adequate spraying frequency, application quality, choosing effective products and eliminating diseased plants are the main management guidelines that should not be overlooked,” he warns.
These measures must be included in management, since the emergence of diseases is inherent to the growth of citrus farming. Monitoring must be constant, from the beginning, so that the same mistakes that allowed the disease to grow to alarming levels in some regions of the state of São Paulo are not made in these areas.
Occurrences Recent surveys conducted by the State Agency for Animal and Plant Health Defense (Iagro/MS) and Agrodefesa (GO), through active searches on properties with citrus trees, have already recorded the presence of the greening bacteria in more than 30 municipalities in Mato Grosso do Sul, as well as in Campo Limpo de Goiás and Quirinópolis, in Goiás. “These occurrences of greening reinforce the need for attention and extra care on the part of citrus growers,” concludes Ayres.
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