Special projects

Health management of pathogen-free (PF) citrus seedlings for the rehabilitation of the citrus industry from

serious epidemic of HLB and virus

diseases in the Indochina peninsula (Year 1)

Under the project of the Council of Agriculturea hands-on training workshop was held which was attended by six trainees from the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam at Department of Plant Pathology & Microbiology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, during the last quarter of the year.The training program was a combination of lectures and exercises on a wide spectrum of topic including the epidemiological nature of Huanglongbing (=HLB, greening) and citrus viruses, pathogen-indexing, production and health management of pathogen-free citrus seedlings.

The disease indexing course focused on teaching the trainees exercises on the RT-PCR (reverse transcription PCR) for detecting citrus tatter-leaf virus and exocortis viroid which could possibly be existing Southeast Asian countries. This disease has been found to affect fruit yield and quality of citrus trees rooted on stocks of Runpure lime, trifoliate and its hybrid cultivars). The establishment of a pathogen-free citrus foundation and seedling production have been primarily important for the management of HLB and virus diseases through shoot-tip micrografting technique which intensively taught to the trainees.

An additional seminar on health management of PF citrus orchards was held in Chiayi Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), COA for the trainees and other local technical persons, which totaled 25 participants. There were lectures on IPM of citrus insect vectors transmitting HLB and viruses, and chemotherapy of citrus HLB by antibiotic injection of trees.

The trainees were also given a guided tour to the national PF citrus foundation screenhouse of CARI where they observed the PF citrus foundation stocks which served asgood sources of producing PF seedlings on a nationwide basis.

Production and health management of pathogen-free (PF) citrus seedlings for the rehabilitation of the citrus industry from serious epidemic of HLB and virus diseases in the Indochina peninsula (Year 1)

Project type: Technology transfer

Date and venue: 2011-2013 (Year 1: Jan-Dec, 2012, Indochina)

Co-sponsor: Council of Agriculture (COA), Taiwan, ROC

Expected partners: Royal University of Agriculture,

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

And Plant Protection Research Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam

For further information, contact Prof. Hong-Ji Su, FFTC Technical Consultant

Index of Images

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  National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Professor Hong-Ji Su, FFTC’s consultant spearheads the 10-day technology transfer training on “Citrus Health Management” to four Filipinos, one Vietnamese and one Cambodian at NTU’s Department of plant pathology and microbiology.

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