Preventing HLB Citrus Fruit Loss by Over 20%

The Problem

Citrus Greening (HLB) is classified by the USDA as incurable. Once the bacterium establishes in a grove, fruit develops poorly, yields fall over time, trees die earlier than they should, and the global citrus industry loses an estimated $4 billion a year to it.

For growers in Florida, Brazil, China, and other affected regions, the conventional toolkit — psyllid management and roguing — slows decline but doesn't reverse it. The question is whether anything can meaningfully reduce the year-over-year fruit loss while trees stay in the ground.

The Trial

A 40-hectare commercial trial in HLB-infected Hamlin oranges (Brazil) compared two foliar Agrarius applications per season against an untreated control. Disease severity, fruit drop, and tree health were tracked across 330 days.

• Crop: Hamlin oranges, HLB-positive
• Trial scale: 40 hectares — commercial production, not research plots
• Replications: 50 per treatment
• Protocol: 500 mL/ha per application, 2 applications per season (V4 and F1 windows)
• Season investment: 1 L/ha annually
• Monitoring window: 330 days

What Happened

Treated blocks held more fruit on the tree, slowed the progression of HLB symptoms, and held those gains out to 330 days.

• Fruit loss: −20.3% vs. control (11.2% loss treated vs. 14% loss control).
• Fruit protected: an additional 0.7–0.85 t/ha on the tree.
• HLB symptom severity at 150 days: −44.2% — fewer diseased branches, healthier canopies.
• Sustained protection: treated trees still showed significantly lower severity at 330 days.

This is not a cure. It is a meaningful, repeatable reduction in the fruit and tree-vigor loss that HLB-positive groves carry every year.

Why This Matters

Every additional ton of fruit on the tree at harvest is direct revenue.

• On a typical 25–30 t/ha grove, an extra 0.7–0.85 t/ha is worth $350–425/ha at $500/ton.
• Treatment cost is well below the protected fruit value — positive ROI in season one.
• The gain recurs every season the program runs.
• Trees stay productive longer because canopy health and root function are better maintained under HLB pressure.

For an incurable disease, that's a measurable shift in the operating economics of an HLB grove.

How To Use It

The protocol layers onto the existing HLB management program rather than replacing it.

• Spray 1: at V4 (or pre-flowering window).
• Spray 2: at F1 (or fruit development window).
• Rate: 500 mL/ha per application; 1 L/ha annually.
• Equipment: standard foliar sprayer.
• Tank-mix: compatible with existing nutrient programs and psyllid / fungicide / insecticide passes.
• Use alongside: psyllid control, healthy nutrition, and standard grove management — Agrarius supports the program, it does not replace it.