Exchange of practices on integrated citrus management

In September, an internship was carried out at Mr. Andrés Plasencia’s plot in Pichanaki. Mr. Andrés is an expert in integrated citrus management. The day was attended by participants from three villages with whom we worked in the “agroforestry coffee in the Peruvian Amazon” project, these were Villa Sol, Pampa Azangaro Alto and Unión Pucusani.

The main objective of this internship was for the participants to obtain more valuable information about other economic alternatives, which they can develop on their own plots with a sustainable management. In all the years that we have been working on this project, we have learned that the participants gain a much more motivation with these kinds of activities, since they can exchange knowledge, not only with the experts, but also with other producers who follow the same trend as them.

In this exchange of practices, we obtained very valuable information on issues related to integrated pest management. Mr. Andrés explained to us the importance of installing citrus fruits on orientation to the sun path to avoid the attack of a mite and he also explained that this practice favors the sugar concentration in the fruit. In issues related to integrated pest management, he also showed us how he biologically controls the leaf miner, releasing Chrysopidaes every six months in his plot. These activities help to avoid the use of chemicals, pollutants for the environment and the health of producers and consumers.

In the integrated citrus management internship, Mr. Andrés explained to us the importance of the patterns of citrus plants, since before installing a plantation, we must know the climatic and soil factors of the place to implement the most resistant pattern and thus to be able to achieve a good uniform and sustainable production.

We would like to thank everyone, the participants who were able to be part of this activity, as well as the citrus expert, Andrés Plasencia, for his good disposition.