New Planting Options for Citrus Growers

Abstract

The USDA/ARS citrus breeding program has a long history of releasing successful scion and rootstock cultivars.  There had been a fifteen year lapse in creating new hybrids and the recently released cultivars largely reflect breeding efforts that preceded the onslaught of HLB and overwhelming consumer demand for seedless fresh fruit.  The USDA program has released eight citrus scion cultivars in the last six years and more are in the pipeline including the first scion for use as a fresh fruit containing Poncirus in the pedigree (Gnarlyglo).  The UF/IFAS/CREC are the new kids on the block, and have recently released 18 new scion cultivars, including 8 processing sweet oranges and 4 seedless mandarins. Both programs have extensive germplasm collections currently undergoing a natural screen for HLB and canker.  As our understanding of HLB-tolerance advances, we are making “better” crosses each year, utilizing high fruit quality and disease resistant parents. We are excited to introduce the following new selections for commercialization.