Scientific Department

	Scientific Department

Coordinator of researches

Fundecitrus created a Scientific Department to act as the interface between the productive and the research sectors, and an exchange point between institutions and universities to coordinate and perform scientific projects.

Since its foundation in 1994, it became a center of excellence for citrus disease and pest researches.

The Scientific Department pays for various projects and has the support of the major research funding agencies of the country. Such partnerships makes it possible to multiply Fundecitrus' annual investment of US$1.5 million in researches, and to attract to citrus scientific studies, scientist of renowned Brazilian and international universities and institutions.

Preparing professionals for the future

Technicians and interns

Further to pointing to and arriving at solutions for citriculture sanity problems, Fundecitrus has contributed to form an elite of scientists, who benefit not only the citrus sector but also Brazilian science.

The Scientific Department has a team of researchers who work in projects developed in its Diagnosis Center of Citrus Diseases and Pests, located in Araraquara (State of São Paulo). This team supervises and has the support of technicians and interns of CNPq, Fapesp and of Fundecitrus itself, who act in projects.


	Fundecitrus also has a program to support research in priority areas, such as CVC (Citrus Variegated Chlorosis), citrus canker, citrus sudden death (CSD), black spot, leprosis, citrus leaf miner, Ecdytolopha aurantiana and greening.


CVC symptoms	Citrus canker symptoms	Citrus sudden death symptoms

Black spot symptoms	Leprosis symptoms	Citrus leaf miner

Fruit infected by Ecdytolopha aurantiana	Plant with greening symptoms	Fruit with greening symptoms


	Studies are developed jointly with several universities and research institutes in Brazil and abroad. With this exchange program with the scientific community, Fundecitrus streamlines its search for solutions to Brazilian citrus complex sanity problems.

	Information on the field Fundecitrus' mission is to maintain the sanity of citrus gloves. To attain its objective, the research results must arrive at the citrus producer, an objective that is being reached by a closer relationship between the research / productive sectors, by disclosing information using an efficient communication chain, through which the technologies generated by researchers are passed on to the field. Furthermore, the institution's action also promotes and projects Brazilian scientific researches. The results of the researches are on the field, helping citrus producers.

	With the discoveries of researchers, for example, it was possible to manage CVC, and it begins when the healthy nursery trees are planted, there is control of the sharpshooters population, and pruning or eradication of the diseased plants are performed. All the measures that are being carried out help minimize the losses caused by the disease.



Production of healthy nursery trees	CVC symptoms in fruits	Trap for sharpshooters control


	Researches also helped to modify the nursery tree production system, justifying the need to use anti-aphid screens, among other measures. Those were phytosanitary recommendations from researchers and were evidenced on the field and enforced by law.

	With the monitoring of Ecdytolopha aurantiana, using traps with synthetic pheromones, citrus producers are aware of the more appropriate moments to apply defensives, consequently avoiding environmental and economic losses.



	Nursery tree production	Trap for the Ecdytolopha aurantiana control. It uses synthetic pheromones tablets that atracts the male moths, allowing the its detection in the grove.


	The methodology used for citrus canker inspections and eradication was also the result of researches. Although arriving at good results, researches to reduce the occurrence of the disease will continue.

	Fundecitrus created an experimental field in Ilha Solteira for such studies. In addition to the experiments on citrus canker, the location functions as a training center for inspectors, improving the specific diagnosis techniques to detect and identify the bacterium.

	Another action of Fundecitrus to control the disease was the importing of Ageniaspis citricola, the main citrus miner's natural enemy. Citrus miner is a pest that facilitates the contamination of groves by the citrus canker bacterium.



Fundecitrus grove inspections	Ilha Solteira experimental field	Galeries formed by citrus miner contaminated by citrus canker and the citrus miner natural enemy, the wasp Ageniapsis citricola


	In the preliminary studies on citrus sudden death (CSD), field results are promising. The secondary grafting techniques, which replaces plant rootstocks, has proven efficient in recovering tree crowns with initial symptoms of the disease. Fundecitrus also proved that MSC is caused by an infectious agent of viral nature and can be transmitted by grafting.



Rootstock planting	Inarching with a new rootstock	Planting filed afected by MSC (*)
(*) Planting field of Hamlin orange on Rangpur lime. The upper part was inarched with Swingle citrumelo. The bottom part, not inarched, had high losses of plants by MSC.


	The above are only some of the examples of studies that resulted in practical applications on the field, and are now used in large scale by producers. There are dozens of pests and diseases that have not been reported in Brazil yet. The role of Fundecitrus is to make citriculture increasingly more prepared to deal with them, if they arrive in Brazil.

	Fundecitrus Partnerships


	Brazilian:
	APTA (Agência Paulista de Tecnologia Agropecuária)
	EECB (Estação Experimental de Citricultura de Bebedouro)
	EMBRAPA (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária)
	GRAVENA-ManEcol Ltda
	IAC (Instituto Agronômico de Campinas)
	IAPAR (Instituto Agronômico do Paraná)
	IB (Instituto Biológico)
	ITAL (Instituto Tecnologia de Alimentos)
	UFPR (Universidade Federal do Paraná)
	UFSCar (Universidade Federal de São Carlos)
	UFV (Universidade Federal de Viçosa)
	UNICAMP (Universidade de Campinas)
	UNESP (Universidade Estadual Paulista)
	USP (Universidade de São Paulo)

	International:
	CAPESPAN - África do Sul (Outspan Citrus Center)
	CIRAD - França (Centre de Coopération Internacionale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Developpement)
	INRA - França (Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique)
	INTA - Argentina (Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria)
	IVIA - Espanha (Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agricolas)
	UC - EUA (University of California - Berkeley)
	UF - EUA (University of Florida - Lake Alfred)
	USDA - EUA (United States Departament of Agriculture)

	Financing Agencies:
	CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico)
	Fapesp (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo)
	Finep (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos)

	Diagnosis Center for Citrus Pests and Diseases

Fundecitrus has a Diagnosis Center for Citrus Pests and Diseases, located in Araraquara, State of São Paulo.

The staff, formed by researchers and research assistants, work in projects that look for solutions to the phytosanitary problems of citriculture.


	The technological advances in Brazilian citriculture, impelled by a number of researches performed in the industry, and the need for appropriate locations to perform the diagnostic tests encouraged Fundecitrus to expand its Diagnosis Center in 1999, with an investment of approximately R$500 thousand. Part of the structure was financed by Fapesp.

	The Center has leading-edge equipment for disease diagnoses, and it is one of the largest in the world, exclusively dedicated to citrus diseases and pests. The Diagnosis Center for Citrus Pests and Diseases consists of a laboratory of 470 square meters and three air-conditioned green houses. In these spaces studies are performed to support researches carried out by Fundecitrus and by several other institutions.

	The major activity of the laboratory is performing tests for disease diagnosis and support to a number of research areas. To guarantee the high precision level of the analyses, leading-edge equipment was acquired and the space was projected to provide total asepsis.



Diagnosis Center General Room	Sample Preparation Room	Diagnosis Test Lab
The plant materials sent to the Diagnosis Center are processed in the Sample Preparation Room, where they are prepared for analysis. It is the first step to diagnose diseases. After the samples are ready, they go through three types of diagnosis tests used by the Center: PCR (the most sensitive), optical microscopy and ELISA. The type of diagnosis test will be defined according to the study that will be carried out.


	The laboratory has areas for Entomology, where researchers perform experiments with insects that are important in disease dissemination, such as sharpshooters' transmitters of the bacterium that causes CVC, for example.

	The structure also shelters growth chambers, with which researchers can test the effects of temperature, humidity, luminosity, nutritional conditions, and hydric stress on the development of citrus diseases and pests. The project was financed by Fapesp.



	Entomology room, where experiments with insects that are important in disease dissemination, such as CVC, are performed		Parathona gratiosa, sharpshooter that transmits CVC bacterium


	Greenhouses
	The center has three greenhouses, in which several experiments with the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium are being carried out, such as the development of the bacterium pathogenicity test and its transmission by sharpshooters. With controlled temperature, the greenhouses are used for pathological, etiological and ecological studies of citrus diseases.



Greenhouses	Greenhouses	Plant experiments at the greenhouse