Total investment will be R$200 million over the next five years
Fundecitrus (Citrus Defense Fund), the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (FAPESP) and the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (Esalq/USP) are joining forces to combat the main diseases in citrus farming, such as CVC (yellowing disease), sudden citrus death and especially greening, with an incidence of 44% in São Paulo orchards in 2024. To reinforce these actions, the three institutions created the Center for Applied Research in Innovation and Sustainability in Citrus Farming (CPA), launched on 12/12 in a ceremony at Palácio dos Bandeirantes, the headquarters of the São Paulo government, by Governor Tarcísio de Freitas.
The Center will receive a total investment of R$200 million over the next five years, renewable for another five years. Of this total, R$90 million will be provided by Fundecitrus and FAPESP, and the remaining resources will be provided as non-financial counterparts in the form of investments in infrastructure, technicians' salaries, among other items. The Center's mission will be to develop research, disseminate knowledge and transfer technology to the sector, which is responsible for 8,2% of São Paulo's exports and 45 jobs in the state.
“The partnership between FAPESP and Fundecitrus is historic. Together, we have achieved important research results over almost 20 years to establish effective strategies for mitigating and understanding greening. Now, we have taken a very important step that will transform citrus farming in the state of São Paulo,” explains Márcio de Castro Silva e Filho, scientific director of FAPESP. The two institutions were partners in the Genome Project, which in 2000 sequenced for the first time the genome of a bacterium of economic interest, Xylella fastidiosa – the cause of yellowing, advancing biotechnology research in the country.
The main line of work of the CPA will be to promote the formation of new research groups and consolidate other already established ones, aiming at controlling greening, particularly in areas of knowledge not yet covered at present. For the executive director of Fundecitrus, Juliano Ayres, the joint construction of the CPA is an achievement of 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 that has a very clear objective, which is to promote the phytosanitary and economic sustainability of citrus farming, so important for the economy of the state of São Paulo. With it, we renew, once again, the public and private commitment to the sector in view of the serious challenge of mitigating the incidence of greening and, who knows, in the future, finding a sustainable way to prevent the disease and/or cure it”, he says.
Impacts of the disease
Today, the total number of citrus farms is almost half what it was before greening. The area under orange production has fallen by 36,5%, and the fruit is produced at a cost that is around 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 incidence of the disease exceeds 60%. In 2024 alone, the incidence of greening is equivalent to 90,7 million trees that are irretrievably doomed, as well as the more than 64 million additional trees that have been eliminated since 2004 in an attempt to control the disease.
“The disease attracts a lot of attention due to its ability to negatively impact the productivity of orchards, putting the sustainability of a production chain at risk. The CPA was designed to discover ways and, very soon, offer answers for more effective management of the disease. Our work will focus on meeting this very important demand and minimizing the impact on harvests,” reinforces researcher Lilian Amorim, researcher at Esalq/USP and director of the CPA.
In the last five orange harvests, greening caused premature fruit drop equivalent to 97,2 million boxes, leading to an estimated loss of US$ 972 million in revenue. This scenario becomes even more serious due to the growing increase in the population of the vector insect in recent years, resulting in a more than tenfold increase from 2019 to 2024, due, among other factors, to the selection of individuals resistant to insecticides, anticipating the progress of the spread of the disease in the coming years.
Operation
The main lines of academic research at CPA involve understanding pathogen-plant-vector interactions, with an emphasis on histopathology, physiology and metabolism of the host (citrus), genetics of plant-host pathogen interactions and the consequences of climate change. Applied research includes greening management, with an emphasis on genetic resistance of the host and chemical, biological, physical and cultural control measures of the bacteria and its vector.
Another applied line of research, focused on mitigating damage and increasing production, will emphasize the production system, plant nutrition and damage reduction, loss assessment, risk of disease occurrence and economic analysis of management measures and their impacts. However, research on other aspects of the crop may be developed in the future.
For the Secretary of Agriculture and Supply of the state of São Paulo, Guilherme Piai, the citrus industry in São Paulo is a showcase for the world, with extremely important impacts on the socioeconomic environment. “We are talking about a sector that is the largest exporter in its segment on the planet. The state of São Paulo wants the citrus industry to become increasingly stronger to face this challenging disease. And this is only possible by building partnerships that foster the development of research. The CPA has the best in our state when it comes to investment and researchers. We are very optimistic about reaping results and disseminating knowledge,” he reveals.
In addition to research, the CPA will play a major role in teaching, disseminating knowledge and transferring technology. In terms of teaching, the center will work on human resources training initiatives already developed by partner institutions, such as strictu and lato sensu graduate programs, but will also offer distance learning courses online, aiming to reach a wider and more diverse audience. Technology transfer will be carried out by CPA researchers and technicians from Cati and the Agricultural Defense Department of the State of São Paulo Department of Agriculture.
The CPA will be headquartered at Esalq/USP, in Piracicaba (SP). In addition to Fundecitrus, the center will have researchers from other USP units (Cena, FZEA, FCFRP), UFSCar, Unicamp, Instituto Biológico, Unesp, IAC and Embrapa. Researchers from foreign institutions, such as the Center for International Cooperation in 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 Ecological Production-Ifapa (Spain), the University of Florida (USA), the University of California (USA), the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Government of Queensland (Australia), the University of Durham (England), the University of Cambridge (England), the University of Warwick (England) and the University of Algarve (Portugal) will also act as collaborators.