An Update of the Crop Management Practices Enhancing Yield and Quality in Citrus

Dear Colleagues,

Citrus and its close relatives are in the subfamily Aurantioideae of the very diverse family Rutaceae.  The citrus tribe of interest to us is Citreae, and the subtribe Citrinae contains the citrus fruit trees. The principal species of the genus Citrus include sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), mandarin (Citrus reticulata), grapefruit (Citrus paradise), lemon (Citrus limon), lime (Citrus aurantifolia), pumelo (Citrus grandis). Some of these species comprise many cultivated varieties (cultivars) which generally differ in fruit size, shape, seed content, quality and season of maturity more than they vary in cultural requirements.

Citrus is grown throughout the world in most areas where mean temperatures stay above 13 ^oC. In general, the commercial citrus-producing countries lie between 40- degree north and 40-degree south latitudes. Many factors influence the world distribution of citrus, including soil and climatic factors. However, it is the minimum temperature which inevitably determines where citrus can be profitably grown.

Citrus is a long-lived perennial evergreen tree which can economically produce fruit for up to 50 years, and sometimes longer. Rootstock’s selection is the key to the success of any fruit tree, in terms of compatibility with scion wood, tree growth and the diversion of water and nutrients uptake from the soil. Different rootstocks suit different soil types.  Most of the world citrus is grown in deep sand, loam soil, or clay-type soil conditions.  It is important that the soil is well drained and that a proper nutrition program is scheduled throughout the growing season. The scion varieties play an important role in determining the market based on consumer preference. Consumers normally prefer sweet, easy-to-peel and juicy mandarin, with strong skin colour. The different varieties of sweet oranges also suit different consumers, and it depends on the time to maturity of different varieties. Due to the constant selection of sweet orange and mandarin varieties, the citrus growing season can last up to 8 or more months in many countries in northern and southern hemispheres.  Crop management practices to grow good quality fruit with a large marketable size have been very important.  Large-sized fruit return better profits for the growers compared to the small-sized fruit. Some of the citrus varieties are heavy bearers, especially mandarins, and therefore, proper fruit thinning practices must be carried out to reduce the crop load and enhance fruit size.  This practice also prevents the trees moving into biennial bearing patterns. Other crop management practices, such as pruning, must also be carried out after harvest to remove weak branches, and to produce strong shoots, which, in turn, bear good quality, large flowers.  Tree pruning also maintains tree size, and it makes it easy for the fruit pickers to pick fruit without ladders. Dwarfing rootstocks can offer tree size control and trees can be planted at much higher densities.

Dr. Tahir Khurshid
Guest Editor

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• rootstocks
• dwarfing rootstocks
• slat tolerance
• varieties
• crop phenology
• fruit thinning
• irrigation
• citrus diseases
• citrus fruit safety
• climate change
• oranges
• mandarin