Inor Ag. Assmann
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Producers, scientists, citrus industry offi-
cials from all over the world will keep a close
watch on what is happening in the city of Foz
do Iguaçu, in Paraná, September 18 through
September 23, during the International Cit-
rus Congress. It is a conference focused on
research works, recent breakthroughs, ex-
change of information and debates on
themes inherent to citrus farming. The event
is back to Brazil after 32 years.
It will be a very busy week, with work-
shops, lectures and plenary sessions. Sub-
jects to be addressed by the lecturers include
the profile, behavior and trends of the global
citrus juice market; water management at cit-
rus farming, research and genetic enhance-
ment; soil nutrition achievements; sustain-
able pest control and transgenic strategies
for keeping the Huanglongbing (HLB) vec-
tor and other diseases under control.
Very active in the sector of citrus farm-
ing and member of the honorary commit-
tee, Ademerval Garcia emphasizes that Brazil
is the leading global producer of oranges and
orange juice. This, in his view, means that, at
least in theory, theCountry is home to thebest
soil conditions, climate, research, groups of
citrus farmers, processing industries, logistics,
distribution and quality, in line with increas-
ingly discerning consumers. “We have the best
venues for events related to this activity, where
participants can see, hear, get informed and
enter into productive arrangements.”
Garcia has it that the Country will lead the
production of oranges for years to come, in
spite of smaller volumes and higher prices re-
sulting fromever rising production costs. “The
future of the activity has in store quality en-
hancement of fresh fruit consumed at home
and abroad, seeing that the fruit itself will con-
tinue exerting attraction, for consumption,
whether table varieties or for the production
of juice directly at sales outlets”, he argues.
Another stability factor has to do with di-
versification, with the introduction of dif-
ferent fruits for cost reduction purposes,
whilst taking advantage of the mix. “I do
not see any reason why we should play an
important role only in oranges, overlook-
ing apples, grapes, pineapples and other
fruit. Scientific research plays a fundamen-
tal role in this conversion and the Congress
represents a great opportunity towards this
end”, he concludes. The International Cit-
rus Congress 2016 takes place at the Mabu
Thermas Resort, in Foz do Iguaçu (PR).
International Citrus
Congress is back to
Brazil after 32 years,
scheduled for September
18 – 23, in Foz do Iguaçu
(PR), focusedonglobal
citrus farming
Special
flower
