Peru's Agriculture and Irrigation Ministry Ministry (Minagri) will implement a Citrus Germplasm Bank that will benefit more than 40,000 small farmers who are dedicated to this production chain nationwide.
The official stressed that this germplasm bank will allow the development of seeds with high genetic value, good yield, better quality, as well as tolerance to various pests and diseases.
Likewise, the sector will be able to rely on an adequate registry of diverse varieties of citrus seeds, in order to carry out research projects whose results can strengthen the quality, competitiveness, and profitability of those crops.
The
INIA head said research will allow small and medium farmers to improve their production with the use of quality seeds. "We generate technology to boost family farming," he expressed.
INIA has made available to producers an in-vitro micrografting technique that allows the development of new citrus plants free of the main viruses and of the HLB disease transmitted by the insect Diaphorina citri, thereby avoiding large losses in Peru's citrus industry.
Maicelo explained that this technique consists in isolating the apical meristem from diseased plants and using it for micrografting, in order to generate new healthy plants with greater production capacity.
(END) NDP/LZD/MVB