System for citrus planting materials

TO ADDRESS the low production of citrus in the country, the Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) established a production system for citrus quality planting materials (QPM) which can be readily accessed by the country’s citrus growers.

The system includes a citrus mother tree foundation and budwood increase block where the trees are maintained in large earthen pots inside an insect-proof screenhouse that can protect all mother trees from two insect vectors: aphids for Citrus Tristeza Virus (CTV) and psyllids for Huanglongbing (HLB).

Infestations of CTV and HLB, along with poor orchard management, have been identified as main causes of low production of citrus.

All mother trees are indexed for CTV and HLB annually to ensure that budwoods for seedling production come from clean mother trees.

These trees have also been certified by the Bureau of Plant Industry with tags indicating the true identity of the variety.

The production system for citrus QPM was developed through the project dubbed “Establishment of quality planting materials production system for citrus in Nueva Vizcaya” that was funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD).

The project enhances the nursery and screenshouse facilities of NVSU and increased capacity from 3,000 to 5,000 seedlings to over 7,000 to 10,000 seedlings per year.

The indexing laboratory has become fully equipped with protein-based and molecular-based protocols.

As a result, the laboratory has been used as a service facility for mother trees of the NVSU’s Philippine Citrus Resources Development Center (PCRDC), private orchards, and nurseries in the province.

The molecular-based detection for HLB involves the use of a probe that matches a sequence in the bacterial DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).

With positive detection, a polymerase chain product of 228 base pairs appears as a band.

The efforts of NVSU on disease indexing through the PCRDC are opening opportunities to provide services in the Cagayan Valley Region.

Through the project, the PCRDC has capacitated the local government unit of Kasibu in Nueva Vizcaya on grafted citrus seedling production.

The project likewise provided assistance to the Municipal Agriculture Office by enhancing its screenhouse and linking them to the NVSU’s QPM system.

The development of the QPM system was an effort that progressed from the support of other government agencies, which include the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research, Commission on Higher Education-Integrated Research Utilization Program, and the Department of Labor and Employment-Adjustment Measures Program.

In a related development to supplement efforts in conserving genetic resources of citrus in the country, the DOST-PCAARRD also funded a project which aims to develop an online database system for descriptive information on all citrus collections of the NVSU.

Developed by the PCRDC, it is called “Citrus Genetic Resources Information System” or CitRIS – an online database system with a window-based platform where data entry on descriptions of citrus species and varieties is done.

The web-based platform, which can be accessed at http://citrusproject.nvsu.edu.ph, houses downloadable information on citrus that are available for online users. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)

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