Pre- and Postharvest Citrus Disease Management - Core Project

This core project will conduct research that provides California citrus growers with a ‘state of the art’ IPM program for diseases caused by fungi, fungal-like organisms, and non-fastidious bacteria. Aspects of this research that can be part of an IPM program include determining economic thresholds, forecasting infection periods for diseases and timing of fungicide applications, developing sampling methods, registering new fungicides, applying fungicides in an appropriate manner, and developing alternatives to fungicide treatments such as biopesticides and biological controls for pre- and postharvest diseases of citrus. Postharvest research also involves resistance monitoring in packinghouses, characterizing resistant isolates of pathogen species for their competitiveness, and determining molecular resistance mechanisms. Specific elements of the core program are developed as needed. Outcomes of this research will help to better understand the diseases and minimize their economic impact for growers, packers, and shippers.