Brazilian institutions create 1st advanced research center against citrus diseases

Three Brazilian institutions have announced the creation of the Center for Applied Research in Innovation and Sustainability of Citriculture (CPA). 

Fundecitrus (Citrus Defense Fund), the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), and the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (Esalq/USP) are collaborating to combat the primary diseases affecting citriculture, including CVC, sudden citrus death, and, most notably, citrus greening.

The Center will have a total investment of BRL200 million over the next five years, renewable for an additional five years. Its mission is to develop research, disseminate knowledge, and transfer technology to the Brazilian agricultural sector.

The primary academic research lines of the CPA encompass understanding pathogen-plant-vector interactions, with a focus on histopathology, physiology, and metabolism of the host (citrus), the genetics of plant-pathogen-host interactions, and the consequences of climate change. Applied research encompasses greening management, focusing on the genetic resistance of the host and employing chemical, biological, physical, and cultural control measures to combat the bacteria and its vector.

Another applied research line, aimed at mitigating damage and increasing production, will focus on the production system, plant nutrition, damage reduction, loss assessment, disease occurrence risk, and economic analysis of management measures and their impacts. However, future research might expand to other aspects of the crop.

Beyond research, the CPA will have a decisive role in education, knowledge dissemination, and technology transfer. In education, the center will engage in human resource development activities already carried out by the partner institutions, such as strictu and lato sensu graduate programs, but also offer distance and online courses to reach a broader and more diverse audience. Technology transfer will be conducted by both CPA researchers and technicians from CATI, as well as the Agricultural Defense of the São Paulo State Secretariat.

Historic Partnership

Márcio de Castro Silva e Filho, Scientific Director of FAPESP, stated that "the partnership between FAPESP and Fundecitrus is historic." Together, we have achieved significant research results over nearly 20 years, establishing effective strategies for mitigating and understanding greening. Now, we have taken an essential step that will transform citriculture in São Paulo state."

Márcio de Castro Silva e Filho, Scientific Director of FAPESP

The two institutions were partners in the Genome Project, which in 2000, for the first time, sequenced the genome of an economically important bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa – the cause of citrus variegated chlorosis, thereby advancing biotechnology research in the country.

The primary focus of the CPA will be to promote the formation of new research groups and consolidate existing ones, with the goal of controlling greening, particularly in areas of knowledge that are currently underrepresented.

For Juliano Ayres, executive director of Fundecitrus, the joint construction of the CPA is a victory for a broad front of work committed to the sector. "We are at the moment of realizing a dream! The CPA represents the joint construction of a project with a clear objective: to promote the phytosanitary and economic sustainability of citriculture, which is crucial to São Paulo's economy. With it, we once again renew our public and private commitment to the sector in the face of the serious challenge of mitigating the incidence of greening and, perhaps in the future, finding a sustainable path for disease prevention and/or cure," he said.

Juliano Ayres, executive director of Fundecitrus

Impact of the Disease

Currently, the total number of properties where citrus is cultivated is almost half of what it was in the pre-greening period. The orange production area has decreased by 36.5%, and fruits are produced at costs about 20% higher. Annual surveys have shown a dramatic increase in trees affected by greening, from 0.6% in 2008 to 44.4% in 2024, on average. In some traditional citrus-growing regions, the disease incidence exceeds 60%. In 2024 alone, greening incidence is equivalent to 90.7 million trees that are irreversibly doomed, in addition to over 64 million trees removed since 2004 in attempts to control the disease.

"The disease attracts a lot of attention due to its ability to impact orchard productivity negatively, putting the sustainability of the entire production chain at risk. The CPA was conceived to find solutions and, very soon, provide answers for more effective disease management. Our work will focus on meeting this crucial demand and minimizing the impact on crops," reinforced Lilian Amorim, a researcher from Esalq/USP and director of the CPA.

Lilian Amorim, a researcher from Esalq/USP and director of the CPA

Over the last five orange harvests, greening has caused premature fruit drop, equivalent to 97.2 million boxes, resulting in an estimated revenue loss of US$972 million. This scenario becomes even more severe due to the increasing population of the vector insect in recent years, resulting in a more than tenfold increase from 2019 to 2024, partly due to the selection of insecticide-resistant individuals, which predicts further disease spread in the coming years.

The CPA will be headquartered at Esalq/USP in Piracicaba, São Paulo state, Brazil. In addition to Fundecitrus, the center will include researchers from other USP units (Cena, FZEA, FCFRP), UFSCar, Unicamp, Instituto Biológico, Unesp, IAC, and Embrapa. Researchers from foreign institutions such as the International Cooperation Center for Agricultural Research for Development - Cirad (France), the Higher Council for Scientific Research - CSIC (Spain), the Andalusian Institute for Research and Training in Agriculture, Fisheries, Food, and Organic Production - Ifapa (Spain), University of Florida (USA), University of California (USA), Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland Government (Australia), University of Durham (England), University of Cambridge (England), University of Warwick (England), and University of Algarve (Portugal) will also act as collaborators.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)