There is no silver bullet.
I’m pretty sure that this is the accepted sentiment by most Florida citrus growers and industry-watchers. There is not going to be some silver-bullet solution that magically appears and wipes away the HLB plague that has haunted the citrus industry for so long.
What is becoming apparent is that fighting HLB successfully will take a combination of successful products and practices that, when used together as a whole, will help us win the fight.
There has been some exciting data just released from the University of Florida that shines the spotlight on another important arrow we now have in our quiver to carry into the battle.
When calculating the value of juice oranges, it’s all about the brix — the term used for the dissolved sugars in the fruit. To put it as simply as possible, what “brix” really means is “dollars.”
Ever since we created the patented Tree Defender IPC, there has been the nagging question of what happens after the covers are removed. Are you right back to square one after the removal, or is there a continued benefit?
According to some recent results released through a continuing study by the University of Florida, the answer points toward a definite continued benefit. Dr. Fernando Alferez and his team have gathered the most recent data and have shown that for three consecutive seasons after IPC removal, the fruit quality is significantly better than the fruit quality from trees initially grown without the protection of Tree Defender IPCs. What does this mean? For the grower, it means more money returned on the initial investment.
A secondary conclusion of these results points to how the use of Tree Defender IPCs can help the industry as a whole mitigate the current poor juice quality from HLB-infected trees and the very young trees planted in their place.
These results are a huge step forward and, along with many of the other recent advancements in the ongoing fight against HLB, are creating a clearer path forward. So while there may be no silver bullet, there does appear to be a way forward, a way that leads toward profitability for the Florida citrus grower.