P a g e | 365 12.14 Micro-budded, High Density Citrus Planting: Is There an Opportunity for HLB Control and Financial Returns?

Skaria M. and Hanagriff R.D. Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center, 312 N. International Blvd, Weslaco, TX Micro-budded citrus: In the mid 1990s, a technique called micro-budding was developed to bud small citrus rootstocks (4,6). The rootstock used was approximately 2 month-old sour orange. Several hundred small, micro-budded citrus trees were planted in a field (3x6 ft), over a 6 month period. Some of the scions were only inch long, but most had scion growth 6 inches or more when planted. The trees performed well and many had fruit in 1999 2 years after micro-budding. One Rio Red grapefruit tree produced 19 fruit. These trees are still alive. This process is unique in that 1) micro-budding by-passed the nursery phase, 2) produced scions smaller than conventional trees suited for ultra-high density planting and 3) trees developed early bearing. Although viewed as innovative and attempted by some nurserymen, micro-budding was not widely adopted, due to unfamiliarity of budding small plants. However, some researchers have made successful use of micro-budding (3,5) and in 2005, a private nursery in Edinburg, Texas successfully produced micro-budded trees commercially. All plants are growing well in the nursery and in orchards.

One year-old micro-budded plants in the field

Micro-budded and planted Small rootstock (by passed the nursery phase)

2-year-old Marrs orange

Scion growth

Weeks after planting

2-year-old Rio Red grapefruit

Figure 1. Stages of micro-budded, ultra-high density planting started on June 11, 1997.

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P a g e | 366 Example of a Florida Valencia Orange Return: The following graph illustrates the net return from Valencia sweet orange planted in 1991, at a tree density of 250 trees per acre. After planting with conventionally budded trees, the first four years had zero income (2).

Net $ Return/Acre 2500 2000 1616.5 Hurricanes

U.S $

2246.3

1500 1000 500 0 0

1991 1992

In Florida

882

0
1993

0
1994

0
1995

140
1996 1999 2002 2004 2005 2006

Figure 2. Net return from Valencia trees on Swingle citrumelo rootstock planted in 1991, Charlotte County, Florida. Data Source: Mongi Zekri, IFAS, UF, with permission. Revenue based on $2.87 (1996) and $2.65 per Kg solids. Pick and haul highest cost $2 per 90 lb box. Figure 2 above shows that net dollar return from a typical high density orchard with 250 trees per acre, using conventional trees is not high. Under HLB and psyllid pressure this level of net income will be insufficient to sustain the additional cost of HLB management. Therefore, every effort to combine all promising avenues of HLB management strategies should be explored including more efficient psyllid control and the use of high density or even ultra-high density orchard design with precocious trees of reduced tree cost . Planting a high density of microbudded trees will offset the initial planting cost of an ultra-high density orchard. The precociousness of micro-budded trees assures more rapid economic returns. Ultra-high Density orchards: Fruit yield and the net economic return to growers in the early years of an orchard are directly related to the number of trees per acre (7,8,9). In the past, all U.S citrus producing states have experimented with high density orchard planting as a means to increase fruit production and profitability. A small number of growers successfully practice high density citrus operation, some even ultra-high density but the majority of U.S citrus growers were reluctant to adapt the high density practice. Though fruit yield in high density orchard is higher in early years, most growers are not willing to change the field equipment or to pay a higher cost for more trees per acre. It has come to a reality that the US citrus growers have to adapt alternative strategies to counter the impact of HLB. An approach now under consideration is to produce citrus on a high density, short-term cycle. The idea is to push early production,

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P a g e | 367 adopt efficient chemical, cultural, and biological control strategies to reduce the psyllid population and HLB infection. Net Present Value (NPV) comparison: NPV is a time value of money technique that discounts future streams of projected net profits using an opportunity cost of money rate (also referred to as a discount rate) to determine a single present value of future profits. The cost of conventional high density planting and micro-budded, high density planting can then be subtracted from current value of future profits, which results in NPV. A positive NPV number communicates additional income above opportunity cost and planting cost. A negative value communicates a poor capital budgeting decision. Also, a higher NPV communicates the best capital budget decision with the differences in the values representing value differential. Capital budgeting also can utilize Pay Back Period, which is the year(s) it takes profits to repay initial planting cost as well as Internal Rate of Return (IRR) to measure the average present value of returns over the initial investment. This capital budgeting tool was applied to both micro-budded high density (565 trees) and conventional planting (150 trees) as described by Roka and Rouse (9). There is a slightly higher initial investment cost, but financial returns far exceed the expense and microbudded HD method of production provides potential economic efficiencies of land use and higher return on investments. This method of productions needs application testing, but even partial results have high financial returns.
Conventional, 150 trees/acre Revenue Cost Net Payback $ $ $ $ 0 1,950 4,650 -4,650 0 750 -750 -5,400 1,387 1,000 387 -5,013 1,677 1,000 677 -4,336 2,632 1,000 1,632 -2,704 3,742 1,000 2,742 38 3,930 1,000 2,930 2,968 4,922 1,000 3,922 6,890 4,810 1,000 3,810 10,700 4,776 1,000 3,776 14,475 4,499 1,000 3,499 17,974 Micro-budded high density, 565 trees/acre Revenue Cost Net Payback $ $ $ $ Today Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 0 0 5,223 6,318 9,913 14095 14,802 18,540 18,117 17,988 16,947 1,978 1,000 1,500 1,650 1,650 1,650 1,650 1,650 1,650 1,650 1,650 -4,978 -1000 3,723 4,668 8,263 12,445 13,152 16,890 16,467 16,338 15,297 -4,978 -5,978 -2,254 2,414 10,677 23,122 36,274 53,164 69,631 85,969 101,266

Today Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10

Table1. Conventional planting with 150 trees and micro-budded, HD cost and payback compared. The NPV for high density planting is estimated to be $68,037 per acre compared to the NPV from conventional planting of $8,293. There are also an estimated 18 % higher returns and a pay back of the initial investment two years ahead of the conventional planting. Possibilities with micro-budded trees: The cost of production of micro-budded trees is approximately of the conventional system. This allows the grower to plant more trees per acre and to harvest more fruit per acre in the early years. Approximately 4X more trees may be planted for the cost of conventionally budded trees. The precocious nature of micro-budded trees enhances early fruit production.
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Negative aspects of micro-budded trees and possible mitigations: In order to fully utilize the benefits of micro-budded trees, they should be planted young in an orchard setting. This makes them more vulnerable to psyllids and thereby to HLB infection under Florida conditions. In Texas, smaller trees are vulnerable to wind and browsing by jackrabbits. However, intensive, ultra-high density planting can be coupled with more efficient use of systemic insecticides such as imidacloprid to protect the trees. There are ways to protect small trees from wind and browsing. The newly tested open hydroponics (OHS) and the new Florida model of advanced production system (APS) combined with micro-budded ultrahigh density planting may make it a worthwhile approach to pursue under HLB and psyllid pressure in Florida. A revolutionary control strategy is required to counter the Florida HLB problem. Micro-budded, high density citrus orchards may offer some benefit to the growers in Florida and elsewhere. Citations Skaria M. 2008. 11th International Citrus Congress, Wuhan, China, October 26-30. Zekri M. 2008. International Citrus Congress, Wuhan, China, October 26-30. Ochoa FM, Dekkers MGH, Skaria M, Lee RF. 2000. Proceedings of the International Society of Citriculture 9th Congress 2000. p.583. Skaria M, Tao Z. 2000. Proceedings of the International Society of Citriculture. 9th Congress 2000. P 584. Yang ZN, Ingelbrecht IL, Louzada E, Skaria M, Mirkov TE. 2000. Plant Cell Reports 19: 12031211. Skaria M. 2000. Proc. 14th Conf. IOCV. IOCV, Riverside. p. 411-413. Boswell SB, McCarty CD, Hench KW, Lewis LN. 1975. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 100: 370-373. Roka FM, Rouse RE, Muraro RP.1997. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 110:82-86. Wheaton TA, Castle WS, Tucker DPH, Whitney JD. 1978. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 91:27-33.

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