FRUIT ROT

FRUIT ROT

Much trouble has been experienced during the pasf season with a rotting of fruits on the, tree and in transit. Some shipments were reported to have arrived in Europe with 40 percent decay. No examples of this rot were seen during the visits to Gaza, but the following reasons suggest that the trouble is Phytophthora lirown rot (1, 4): (a) fruits were reported to be rotting on the tree shortly after heavy rains that continued for several days during November of 1960; (b) fruits appeared sound on packing but developed decay in shipment; (c) the rot was brown in color, firm in texture, and pungent in odor.

STUBBORN

STUBBORN

One grower mentioned a disease producing acorn-shaped sweet orange fruits with tht rind at the navel end being particularly thin. Twigs were described as being "shaky.' and the growth of the tops so reduced thin: the grower had the trees (6 out of 2,000) removed. This would suggest the preset of stubborn disease. At times, trees were seen that bare some of the early stage symptoms described for stubborn, such as imbricated foliage, rounded and cupped leaves, and poor fruiting, but single ob­servations are not considered adequate to implicate the existence of stubborn virus.

PSOROSIS

separate troubles.

PSOROSIS

While many trees showed the early leaf syrriptoms of psorosis (1, 4), very few were found to exhibit the bark shelling and decline aspects of this virus disease.

TRISTEZA

Tristeza is an important consideration in a country where most trees are on sour orange root-stock. The sudden advent of tristeza virus in combination with an efficient vector like Toxoptera (Aphis) citricidus (Kirk.) could spell havoc, as it did in Argentina, where 20 years after introduction of this nefarious pair, five sixths of the 12 million trees of the country were killed.

A reservoir of tristeza already exists in Israel. Earlier reports (6, 9) showed that the virus was present in introduced varieties, but a later report (7) indicated that the tristeza virus also occurred in 82 out of 8,000 Shamouti orange trees in commercial groves.

A lookout was maintained for trees on sour orange stocks in a state of tristeza-like decline. Trees of lamoon belady (syn. Key lime) were also examined for the foliar vein-clearing symptoms indicative of tristeza. In no cases however were any suspicious symptoms seen.

While Toxoptera citricidus is not known at present in the Mediterranean area, two other species of aphid vectors were recorded from Palestine. One is the previously reported Aphis gossypii Glov., and the other. Toxoptera aurantii (Fonsc.), is reported here for the first time as occurring it Palestine. Neither species, however, is very effective in transmitting tristeza, and under conditions observed in the Gans. Strip, neither appears likely to do much damage. A more threatening prospect is the chance introduction of T. citricidus, either from India or from equatorial Africa.

DISEASE PROBLEMS

DISEASE PROBLEMS

XYLOPOROSIS

The principal disease in groves of the Gaza Strip is xyloporosis. This will come as no surprise to those familiar with citrus pathology at the eastern end of the Mediterranean where Palestine sweet lemon has long been employed as a rootstock. The first observation and the original description of xyloporosis were made in Palestine in the early thirties (8).

Today it is mainly the old groves of Palestine sweet lemon that are affected by xyloporosis. None of the trees on sour orange, which now constitute 80 percent of the acreage, show ill effects from the virus.

Of the 20 percent of the trees that continue on Palestine sweet lemon, many are in a marginal state of productivity. Not all of the depauperate growth, however, can be attributed to xyloporosis. Entire blocks of Shamouti orange trees on Palestine swell lemon have been found to exhibit a uniform depression of growth, with only scattered trees showing the greater degree of stuntiq and the characteristic pitting and pegging d xyloporosis. The general "running-ouf effect, which disposes some growers to the belief that the natural life span of citrus trees is only 25 years, it gets that sweet lime is liable to troubles other than xylopo rosis, and that these troubles are more serious than xyloporosis itself. The fact that sour orange does better in the heavier, wetter soils of the Strip points to the possibility that Phytophthora fungi may be destroying roots of the more susceptible sweet lime (1). Also involved may be a decline that correlates with the presence of vascular honeycombing in the scion (i.e., Shamouti) portion of the trunk immediately above the bud union. Thisss gum-free inverse pitting is found, in the absence of xyloporosis pitting, in the sweet lime stock, and recalls trouble pre­viously described from Egypt by Nour-Eldin and Childs (5). In some blocks of Shamoutis on sweet- lime rootstocks, xyloporosis has been found to affect as high as 15 percent of the trees. In other blocks, many of the affected trees have been removed, so that maximum figures for damage due to xyloporosis are obliterated. More ingenuous than ingenious is the occasional practice of putting two sweet ­lime-rooted trees in each planting hole, thus hopefully providing at least one tree that will not be affected by xyloporosis.

FVOEA

In a block of ten-year-old Clementine mandarin trees on sweet lime rootstock, approximately 10 percent of the trees were found to be in a marked state of stunting and decline. This condition was correlated with a honeycombing (inverse pitting) and gumming in the vascular region of the trunk, beginning at the bud union and progressing upward for a distance of several feet into the framework of the tree. Symp­toms, both external and internal, resemble those found in the fovea disease that affects Murcotts in Florida (3). It is still not known whether fovea _.is a varietal response to xyloporosis or cachexia virus or whether another virus is involved. Five out of the six trees examined showed no xyloporosis pitting in the sweet lime portion of the trunk; this would suggest that xyloporosis and fovea are indeed separate troubles.

PEST CONTROL PRACTICES and PRODUCTION AND MARKETING FACTORS

PEST CONTROL PRACTICES

In the nursery, no pesticides are used, since plants are unaffected by scab, anthracnose, and insect pests. In the grove, trees receive a single dust application of sulfur; this is applied sometime between June and October. Sulfur is used to control russet, but judging from the small amount of blemished oranges seen in the market place at Gaza (which consumes the fruit un­suitable for export), russet is not the serious problem as it is in other parts of the world, notably Florida.

Control of scale is attempted by application of medium oil emulsion, usually 1 percent. The lack of satisfactory results suggests that better control would be obtained if the percentage of oil in the emulsion were increased. The impenetrability of most groves, however, makes proper application a virtual impossibility.

PRODUCTION AND MARKETING FACTORS

Citrus production is the main economic pursuit of the Gaza Strip and provides the chief source of income. Approximately 90 percent of the fruit grown is shipped abroad, to European as well as Arabian markets. The volume of exports for the period 1956-60 is shown in Table 1.

The area devoted to citrus is at present 18,000 dunums. This represents a sizable increase from the 8,000 dunums of two years ago, and attests to the accelerated pace of citrus growing. About 10,000 dunums are in bearing trees.

Harvesting starts in mid-October and ends in mid-April. Shemouti oranges are picked as early as the middle of October — about a month earlier than the same variety is har­vested north of the Armistice Line. It is claimed that the achievement of a 7 to 1 ratio of solids to acid is attained earlier in Gaza because of favorable climatic conditions and the presence of sandy soils. Picking dates for varieties other than Shamouti are: Valencias — February through April; Sukary oranges — December; mandarins — January and February; lemons -- January; grapefruits — January.

There is increasing interest in the growing of Valencia’s. Spaces left by removal of dying trees as well as new groves are being planted to Valencia’s; at present thi variety brings 1. the price of Shamout is on the European market. Valencias ar favored also for their superior shipping qualities and because of the feeling that tha they are less susceptible than are Shamouti to salt injury and to insect damage. Al though it is not generally appreciated among growers, Valencia’s, being budded on sou: orange, are certainly tolerant to xyloporosis whereas many of the older Shamouti; plantings on sweet lime are suffering from xyloporosis.

Prices realized abroad have generall3 been below prevailing market levels ant reflect the attitude among buyers that fruit: from Gaza are inadequately graded with respect to ripeness, color, and size. The recent establishment of a modern packing house of 80-ton/8-hour-day capacity should do much to remedy some of these short coming and to improve receptivity of Gaza citrus.

INCOME CERTIFICATE

INCOME CERTIFICATE

         

This is to certify that total income of SABIR ALI S/O GHULAM RASOOL Resident of Chah Motay wala Mouza Nizampur P.O Sham Kot Tehsil Kabirwala District Khanewal.

                                                                                          Rs. 15,000/- Per Month

__________________ 

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