CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS: WASHINGTON NAVEL ORANGES

Summer: - Irrigate if necessary with an

overhead spray
December - Fertilise with Blood and Bone or
January Dynamic Lifter
February

Autumn: - Irrigate if necessary

- Renew Wild May baits
March - Dose the trees with Epsom salts for
April magnesium deficiency, magnesium
May sulfate
Winter: - Harvest fruit after cold weather
(after first frost)
June - Fertilise with Blood and Bone Plus*
July or Dynamic Lifter
August - Pick up fallen fruit
Spring: - Spray fortnightly with mineral oil (if
the temperature is less than 30
September degrees) for citrus lead miner
October prevention
November - Irrigate if necessary
- Dose trees with Epsom salts

WASHINGTON NAVEL: BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Variety was introduced in SA in 1887 by Chaffey bros from California
Harvested from April- August
NAVEL PRODUCTION (NSW)

Navel 40%
Valencia 48%
Other (grapefruit, lime etc) 12%
Australian Production: 193,000 tonnes, NSW: 181000 tonnes, Aus Valencia: 217,000
tonnes
Harvest: April- August

NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
Vitamin C
Dietary Fibre
Some Vitamin A, thiamine and calcium
We use the Washington Navel variety at James Ruse because of its high yield and it grows
during term time.
PRODUCTION STATS:
- 1994: Aus produced 697 km of citrus from 10.2 million
- Crop valued at $321 million
- Exports increases over 10 years
- Exports are only 16% of total production
- Exports to South East Asia, the Pacific, NZ, Middle East and Europe

Areas in Australia that grow citrus: MIA: Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA)
High rainfall areas
Dams, rivers
Lake Argyle
Coastal rainfall/ inland

CLIMATE IN THE MIA

400 mm rainfall annually
Evaporation 2250 mm annually
Irrigation is essential in this area
Wind heat waves, drought and frost periodically
1000-1250 mm needed for citrus annually (this includes rainfall)

PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH WASHINGTON NAVEL ORANGES

- Wind causes wind rub and is also the cause of rind blemish
- Windbreak (either artificial/natural) helpful in improving fruit quality

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
- Root stocking with scions (Trifoliata, rough lemon) < Ruse Variety
- Other varieties include Troyer and Carrizo to protect against Phytophthora
- Rough lemon is susceptible to Phytophthora Root Rot and Collar Rot

Advantage Disadvantage
Trifoliata Disease resistant cold, hardy Sensitive to drought, salt PH
small tree change
Rough lemon Good yield, drought Disease susceptible, rough
resistant, large trees rind

FERTILISERS AND NUTRITION

- NPK, Citrus is prone to Zinc Manganese Magnesium deficiencies (Foliar sprays fix)
- Lime raises PH, too much lime is deficiency of iron
 NITROGEN DEFICIENCY
Oranges with increasing paleness due to nitrogen deficiency
Loss of green
Fertiliser applied in late winter to early spring or spring flush

MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY
DWARFING
Bud transmissible dwarfing factor when growing on rootstock reduces tree size by 30-
50%
Maintains health, earlier cropping and fruit quality
Density of dwarfed trees can be up to 1000 trees/ha as opposed to normal 450 trees/ha

PRUNING AND TREE SIZE

Removes dead wood
Skirting, done just before flowering, fruit quality, reduce disease like brown rot
Removal of lower branches

CITRUS MARKETING
- Australian citrus is marketed or exported
- Can be fresh or processed eg juice
- Main export markets: Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, US,
Thailand, Uk and

Processing

Wholesal Retail
Farm Gate
e

Transpo
rt

REGULATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS

1) Pesticide free produce
2) Bringing Australian diseases and pests to other countries
3) Quality, size, free from blemishes, colour etc.
MARKETS IN JAMES RUSE AND WIDER INDUSTRY
Processing market
Fresh fruit market

SOIL REQUIREMENTS
 - Light textured, well drained soil
- PH= 6, depending whether it is acidic soil or not (non acidic PH is 5)
- Drainage because waterlogging and Phytophthora root rot
- JRAHS PH= 5-5.5

TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTION OF ORANGES

Harvesting, washing, grading, packing, refridgerator
Harvesting is handpicked, clipped and put into bins then transported (also may use
mechanical citrus Nelson harvester
Etholyne gas is pumped into a storage shed to quicken maturity
Chlorine/ water disinfectant
Blacklight room: detects damaged fruit and penicillin mould (in case decay affects
other fruits)
Bicarb/water to clean off chlorine, dust and fungal spores
Drying
Infared imaging for quality control
Ugly ones get sent off to processing plants
Determines size and puts sticker accordingly
Put into container storage and shipped off
Hand packaged

COLLAR ROT
Life cycle:
Fungal disease in soil, invades trees lower trunk (collar) and grows well in damp conditions
Symptoms:
Yellowing of leaves
Gum oozing out of tree
Trunk may dry out
Bark may split or have wet patches
Management:
Increase air circulation decreased humidity
Do not wet trunk
Prune off low branches
Improve soil drainage
Trifoliata rootstocks are resistant.
Have scion at least 50mm above ground level
 Cut away damaged bark with a sharp knife
Fungicide can be applied
CITRUS LEAF MINER
LIFE CYCLE
Favour summer/autumn conditions
Eggs: Flat, slightly oval, translucent, but appear green, laid on underside of young leaves,
hatching can occur within 1 day in summer
LARVAE
Pale green, feed on sap, form silvery line on leaf, 5-6 days for larval stages

PUPAE
Yellowish-brown, 2.5mm long
Edge of leaf, emergence occurs after 6 days

ADULTS
Small moths
Mating occurs 9-12 hours after emergence
Eggs laid 24 hours after mating

SYMPTOMS
Twisted, curled leaves
Severe infestations cause slow growth and little yield on newly planted trees
MANAGEMENT
Apply predators e.g. lacewings
HMOs and AMOs (horticultural/agricultural mineral oils) prevent adult female moths from
laying eggs.
Broad spectrum insecticides kill adults and immature stages.
APHIDS
Aphids are prolific breeders
All species undergo a gradual metamorphosis from egg to nymph (several stages) to
adult.
They are able to give birth to many young in one day (some species can give birth to
live young)
Nymphs take 8-20 days to mature
Aphids over winter as young or adults, often finding shelter in cracks and crevices on
the host plant
DAMAGE TO TREE
Both young and adult aphids attack plants by piercing plant tissues and sucking the
plants juices
Young growth is open to attack as it is full of sap and quite tender
Symptoms include: distortion of leaves, roots, fruit and flowers, leaf galls reduced
fruit size, death of leaves and young shoots and die back of stems and trunks
Dead brown stick showing out of the new growth (die back: dead branch material)
Indirect damage includes: the production of honey dew (a waste product excreted
from the aphids rear)
Sweet honey dew attracts ants (transmission of virus and virus like diseases and sooty
mould)
Ants can be seen milking aphids for the waste products

Control
Integrative pest management (spray/bio/physical controls)
Biological: lady birds
Sanitation: Removal of weeds which often act as hosts to aphids
Physical/ mechanical: a strong jet of water aimed at infected plant parts dislodges
many aphids (must be used in conjunction with other methods)
Pesticide: Soap sprays, botanical extracts (garlic or pyrethrin= marigolds), synthetic:
pyrethroids, organophosphates: kill everything in sight eg. Naldason (used in
commercial production)
BLACK BOX DIAGRAM
BLACK BOX DIAGRAM

SUB SOIL SYSTEM MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

MICROBIAL/ PLANT SUBSYSTEM

INVERTERBRATES
SUBSYSTEM

^ Boundary (citrus orchard)

Inputs: Irrigation, Mineral/ White oil, Fertiliser
Outputs: oranges
Feedback: Yield