Los Baños, Laguna”•Nueva Vizcaya State University has established a production system for citrus quality planting materials that can be readily accessed by citrus growers in the country.
“The system includes a citrus mother tree foundation and budwood increase block, where trees are maintained in large earthen pots inside an insect-proof screenhouse. All mother trees are protected from two insect vectors: aphids for Citrus Tristeza Virus and psyllids for Huanglongbing,” Dr. Elbert A. Sana of NVSU said.
“CTV and HLB incidence, along with poor orchard management, are the main causes of low production of citrus in the country,” he said.
All mother trees are indexed for CTV and HLB annually to ensure that budwoods for seedling production in the nursery come from clean mother trees. The trees have also been certified by the Bureau of Plant Industry with tags indicating the true identity of the variety, he added.
The production system for citrus QPM was developed through the project, “Establishment of quality planting materials production system for citrus in Nueva Vizcaya” funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD).
The project enhanced 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 NVSU’s Philippine Citrus Resources Development Center, private orchards, and nurseries in the province,” Sana said.