An Analysis of Citrus Cultivation Techniques and the Problems Facing China's Citrus Industry
China is one of the important places of origin for citrus, with a long history of citrus cultivation. As early as over two thousand years ago, the patriotic poet Qu Yuan wrote the famous piece "Ode to the Orange" in his hometown. So what are the citrus cultivation techniques? What problems does China's citrus industry face?
I. What are the citrus cultivation techniques?
1. Planting time
Generally speaking, citrus can be planted in both spring and autumn. The ripening period also differs from place to place, but roughly it ripens in mid-September to early October of the lunar calendar. When planting, you can judge for yourself according to local conditions.
2. Soil management
Citrus has relatively high soil requirements. Generally speaking, too shallow a layer affects the growth of the citrus root system, so the soil depth is required to be at least 80 cm or more, with a topsoil layer of 60 cm or more. During the citrus growing period, intertillage and weeding are generally carried out 3-4 times to loosen the soil, increase water permeability and improve water storage and moisture conservation capacity. In drought, water should also be applied promptly, and after watering, the soil should be loosened to conserve moisture.
3. Fertilizer and water management
Generally, our fertilization principle for citrus fertilizer and water management is: the needs of blood oranges for various nutrient elements should be fully met, and it is advocated to apply more organic fertilizer, rationally apply inorganic fertilizer and formula fertilizer. Fertilization should also be guided according to leaf analysis results, orchard soil analysis results, blood orange phenological periods, etc. Our commonly used fertilization methods are: mainly soil fertilization, combined with foliar fertilization. Several methods are used, such as ring-shaped trench application, strip trench application, hole application and surface broadcasting of fertilizer.
4. Pest and disease control
Several common diseases of citrus: huanglongbing (citrus greening disease), canker and scab. Citrus huanglongbing is a devastating disease. Once it occurs, it cannot be cured, and the trees must be cut down promptly, and slaked lime powder should be spread in the diseased holes for disinfection. Citrus huanglongbing spreads the virus through psyllids. During the citrus growing process, timely use of thiamethoxam, or acetamiprid, or pymetrozine, or nitenpyram, or imidacloprid, or veratrine, or fenoxycarb, or buprofezin, carbosulfan, etc. plus bifenthrin to control psyllids can reduce the incidence of the disease.
5. Preventing freeze damage
In the citrus production areas of southern Shaanxi, winter temperatures are relatively low and freeze damage often occurs, causing leaves to fall, branches to dry up, bark to crack, and even the whole tree to die. Therefore, orange orchards should be established on warm south-facing slopes sheltered from the wind; varieties with strong cold resistance such as Satsuma mandarin, Zhuhong mandarin and Bendizao should be developed; from mid-September to early October, winter fertilizer should be applied deeply and heavily; grafted seedlings should have soil mounded around the root collar; and before freezing, watering, whitewashing and wrapping with straw should be done. These measures all have a certain cold-protection effect.
II. What problems does China's citrus industry face?
1. The aging problem leads to a severe labor shortage
In terms of production factors, the main problem is that labor costs are too high, rural labor is severely insufficient, aging is widespread, and the labor cost advantage has been severely weakened.
2. The future will inevitably move toward mechanized and large-scale development
China has many mountain orchards, management is difficult, and planting costs are very high. In the future, it will definitely develop in the direction of mechanization and large-scale operation. At the same time, the large-scale development of citrus in our country occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and many trees are already over 20 years old. Generally, the maximum tree age for citrus production is 30 years, so afterward there will be large-scale elimination.
3. Climate and other force majeure factors
Abnormal climate leads to low yields. For example, drought causes yield declines, resulting in very low income for fruit farmers. The full opening of the international fruit market exposes China's fruit market to competition and shocks from many low-priced, high-quality foreign fruits, which means China's fruit market will face even more tests in the future.
Overall, there are still many points to note when growing citrus. Only when all of them are taken into consideration can citrus trees achieve high yields.