Producing healthy citrus seedlings

Abstract

The establishment of an orchard is a long-time venture and mistakes committed at the initial stages for orchard establishment are very difficult to correct at later phases as they cause an unbearable loss to the growers. Therefore, production of substandard planting material plays a limiting role in the growth of fruit industry of the country. Orchards established from inferior planting material are responsible for the poor income to farmers. The complications like low fruit production, severe fruit drop, poor fruit quality and reduced productive life span of plants are also associated with the superiority of the available planting material. Consequently, production of healthy nursery plants must be ensured for prosperous future. The following components and strategies must be adopted in model nurseries to achieve the production of disease free citrus planting material in sufficient quantity.