Reviving Brazilian Citrus: A Strategy to Neutralize the Greening Threat”

Science / Chemistry

Brazil, as the world’s leading producer of citrus fruit and the top exporter of orange juice, heavily relies on citrus farming for its economy. Currently, the primary concern in citrus farming is the disease known as greening, caused by a bacterium. This disease, deemed the most destructive in history, remains incurable, and to date, no efficient and safe control strategies have been established. A significant challenge related to this disease is the inability to cultivate the bacterium in a laboratory setting. In our project, we propose two novel methodologies for laboratory cultivation of this bacterium, facilitating a deeper understanding of the disease. Our proposal also proposes a hypothesis regarding the bacterial strategy employed to infect the plant. We propose a swift and safe control alternative to neutralize this threat based on this hypothesis. These measures aim to safeguard our orchards and enable the Brazilian citrus crop to reach its maximum yield.

Amount invested

R$ 100,000.00
R$ 10,000.00 (maternity grant)

Open Calls

Chamada 4