TROPICSAFE TRAINING SESSION IN CUBA

A new training session is being organised from the TROPICSAFE partners. Between the 9th and 10th December, this session will allow to get a better understanding of the “huanglongbing” disease, recognize it in the field and give an explanation on which techniques and practices are being used and/or developed within the project to manage HLB.

Under the title of PRACTICES AND TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE CITRUS “HUANGLONGBING”, this two-day experience will host a theoretical presentation on the most important and concerning issues of this disease, with lectures given by some of the TROPICSAFE partners with experience and expertise in the subject area.  Also, there will be a practical session on which the participants will go to fields of the three cultivars that are cultivated in Cuba commercially (sweet orange, grapefruit and Persian lime) to observe the different symptoms of the disease and collect leaves for its molecular diagnosis.

The main objectives of this training are to provide information for the identification of “huanglongbing” symptoms, alternative host plants and insect vectors; provide information on disease epidemiology; improve the knowledge on management strategies and biological control to reduce HLB economic impact; and get a perspective on how is affecting orchards in Cuba and Guadeloupe as well as how it is managed. The dissemination of the information held on the event is expected to help to reduce the economic impact of “huanglongbing” which causes significant losses in citrus production in different tropical and subtropical countries that are affecting trade and import worldwide.

This training will be hosted on the Research Institute of Tropical Fruit Crops in Havana, and is aimed for citrus growers, professors, students, technical advisers, consultants, farmers, and plant protection organizations.

We hope to see you there if you have the opportunity to attend!

See the full programme here.