Certification Programs for Citrus

Abstract

Certification programs are important for the long term sustainability of citrus and other crops which are vegetatively propagated. The certification program provides a basic platform for all integrated pest management practices, it is important for the management of insect and fungal pests, and the program ensures that the grower is planting healthy germplasm of the highest horticultural quality. Graft transmissible pathogens without insect vectors are effectively controlled, and graft transmissible pathogens having insect vectors or other means of natural spread can be controlled and their damage minimized. To be effective, a certification program must be mandatory. The components of a certification program include a quarantine program, a clean stock program, and a certification program to provide for distribution of the high quality, virus testes propagating material into the citrus industry for the benefit of the citrus industry as a whole. Sustainability of a certification program and other considerations are summarized. The cost of planting trees healthy trees of the highest genetic potential which originate from a certification program is very small, considering that a healthy citrus planting may outlive the person who plants it.