agriculture tools

Overview

Huanglongbing (HLB), or the Citrus Greening Disease (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus), is the most destructive citrus disease worldwide and persists in threatening the sustainability of the Citrus Industry in numerous regions. Currently, no pesticide is registered to cure this disease besides the antibiotic Oxytetracycline under the emergency label section 18. The curry leaf tree, Murraya koenigii, is highly attractive to the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, which vectors the bacterial causative agent of citrus greening disease, but it is not a carrier of disease. In this experiment, curry leaf extract was used to treat greening -infected trees through trunk injection, with Oxytetracycline as the standard control. qPCR was performed at the end of the experiment, exhibiting an increase in Ct value (10%) in curry leaves extract-treated trees and Oxytetracycline. NDVI index also showed more than a 15% increase, confirmed with canopy physical measurement where the plant height width increased by 7.5 % and 12%. The chlorophyll content was higher in curry leaves extract-treated plants by 23% and 4% as compared to UTC and OTC, respectively, and no difference was observed in stomatal conductance. Among the different rates (10%-30%) of curry leaves extract, 30% was found optimal. Based on the findings, curry leaves extract can emerge as an effecti ve and sustainable solution for citrus greening disease management, bolstering the global citrus industry. The experiment will be repeated in the coming season to validate the current findings, and experimental plants will be observed for the next two years as a continuation of this experiment.