Project Name：Pathology Prevention and Control of Citrus and Passion Fruit Project in Royal Project Foundation (Thailand)

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Asia-Pacific, Thailand

Project Description：The Royal Project Foundation, founded by Thailand’s royal family, is dedicated to assisting highland people in northern Thailand in engaging in agricultural production, originally as a means of substituting for the production of opium poppies. The foundation promotes technical capacity in key crops, and assists and provides guidance to farmers in improving their cultivation techniques, in part through the exchange of agricultural know-how with Taiwan.

Recently, the foundation selected citrus and passion fruit for extension based on market demand. However, these two crops have been heavily impacted by pests over recent years, affecting local farmers’ livelihoods, and so the foundation plans to use this cooperation project to introduce citrus and passion fruit pest control techniques from Taiwan, hoping to strengthen basic development and to substantially improve farmers’ livelihoods.

Project appraisal indicated that the main challenge to improving the development of citrus and passion fruit production at the Royal Project Foundation was a lack of healthy seedling management and pest detection techniques. Since the foundation had been unable to effectively assist farmers in controlling pests and improving yields, farmers had been unable to increase their incomes and ultimately, therefore, had had no incentive or intention to invest in healthy seedlings. As a result, a vicious circle had developed.

The project will support the Royal Project Foundation’s efforts to assist local farmers in raising profits and production value. Overall, the project will:

1.Assist in establishing a propagation system for healthy passion fruit and citrus seedlings.
2.Develop biological pesticides and enhance IPM (integrated pest management) techniques, helping farmers to reduce losses through the effective control of insect pests and diseases.
3.Build the technical capacity of Royal Project Foundation technicians so that they can assist farmers in improving their cultivation techniques as well as the quality and productivity of passion fruit and citrus production.

Project No：TT-310-2014-006

Implementation Start Date：2014-01-01

Implementation End Date：2016-12-31

Project Objectives：

1. Establishment of a passion fruit healthy seedlings propagation system, which will breed 90,000 healthy virus-free passion fruit seedlings and promote to 900 farmers for renewing seedlings within three years.
2. Establishment of a citrus healthy seedlings propagation system, which contains establishing a garden for healthy citrus mother plants and a garden for healthy citrus seedlings propagation,.and will breed 4,000 healthy citrus seedlings and promote to 95 farmers for planting.
3. Development of biological pesticides and implement integrated pest management, which contains developing at least two biological pesticides for biocontrol.
4. Capacity building for stakeholder farmers and agro-technicians, which contains arranging at least 50 Royal Project personnel to Taiwan to receive professional training, and arranging at least 250 people to accept the resident technical upgrading training.
   

Executing Agency：Taiwan ICDF
Royal Project Foundation(Thailand)

Current Progress：To the end of December 2016, the following activities have been completed:

In 2014

1. After detecting virus for the Tainung No.1 passion fruit mother plants in the greenhouses at PangDa work station , it was found that 121 plants were virus free, 177 plants infected with CMV, and 101 plants infected with PWV and EAPV.
2. 20,194 yellow passion fruit seedlings have been prepared for rootstock and 3,000 Tainung No.1 passion fruit virus-free grafted plantlets have been produced and delivered to work station for extension to farmers.
3. Ten plants of six kumquat, grapefruit and lemon varieties were detected for disease infection, six of them were proved disease free and have been enclosed with insect protection net surrounding the plants to keep from vectors.
4. 110 citrus plants have been screened and probed for CTV, 64 plants were confirmed CTV free. Lemon Huay Kaw variety were proved all CTV free.
5. One isolated greenhouse for citrus mother plants and one for citrus healthy plantlets have been constructed at PangDa work station.
6. It has isolated atagonistic fungi: 9 Trichoderma sp., and entomophathogenic fungi: 6 Beauveria sp.1Metarhizium sp.,7 Paecilomyces sp.,2 Nomuraea sp.
7. Efficacy of 12 isolates of entomopathogenic fungi has been brought to test on controlling thrips in the laboratory. Antagonistic fungi Trichoderma spp. is being tested for efficacy of growth inhibition of Colletotrichum sp. on PDA .

1. Of the 879 passion fruit seedlings collected from the mother plant nursery at Pang Da work station, 277 samples were virus-free, 438 samples tested positive for CMV (Cucumber mosaic virus) and EAPV (East Asian passiflora virus), and 107 samples tested positive for Potyvirus.
2. A total of 66,516 Tainung No.1 grafted plantlets have been produced and 53,282 seedlings have been delivered to 30 workstations.
3. Of the 753 citrus plants tested for CTV (Citrus tristeza virus), 210 samples were infected. 270 samples of the 389 citrus plants tested for HLB (Huanglongbing)were infected.
4. 1,300 rootstock seedlings of the Cleopatra mandarin cultivar from the nurseries at PangDa and Pong Noi work stations  have been planted in plastic greenhouses.
5. Three bio-agents for controlling pests and diseases were cultivated and produced, including 2201.75 kg of Trichoderma harzianum, 964.25 kg of Beauveria bassiana and272.25 kg of Metarhizium anisopliae in eight work stations at Ang Khang, Nong Hoi, Huai Pong, Mae Phae, Pang Da, Tung Luang, Pong Noi and Mae Hae.
6. The bio-agents were assessed for their antagonistic efficiency and a total of six isolates were determined to prevent leaf spot and anthracnose diseases of passion fruit plants: three strains isolated from Trichoderma (Tricho 002, 004 and 005) were found to  dramatically decrease the damage from Alternaria passiflorae and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides; the other three strains isolated from Bacillus subtilis (SOL-G3, SOL-Y and SOL-V3) were found to  significantly reduce damage from Alternaria passiflorae and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Three isolates of Beauveria bassiana were effective in controlling green weevils, thrips, Asian citrus psyllid and African red mite. In addition, 16 isolates of Endophytic actinomycetes will be assessed in the near future for their controlling effects on pests and diseases.
7. 16 workshops on passion fruit cultivation were held. In addition, two Taiwanese experts on Citrus Huanglongbing and one Taiwanese expert on passion fruit diseases were sent to Thailand to offer assistance in the management of these diseases.

1. Tested 708 passion fruit mother plants (Tainung No.1) to be virus-free. In addition, grew 230 virus-free passion fruit mother plants in greenhouse.
2. Produced 43,332 passion fruit virus-free grafted plantlets and distributed 42,240 passion fruit virus-free plantlets to 54 work stations.
3. Of the 377 citrus plants grown in the work stations of Pong Da and Pong Noi that were tested, 313 samples showed negative for CTV virus. Of the 256 citrus grafted plantlets tested, 24 samples are negative by rapid iodine testing.
4. Produced 3,179 healthy citrus and 4,030 healthy lemon plantlets for subsequent extension.
5. Produced 2,816.8 kg of Trichoderma harzianum, 963.75 kg of Beauveria bassiana and 333.75 kg of Metarhizium anisopliae for application as bio-control agent in the field.
6. Held the Lemon and Grapefruit Tree Pruning Technique Training, CTV testing for Citrus Training, Passion Fruit Propagation Training, and Biological Pesticide Training for 475 participants.
7. Dispatched 2 biological pesticide experts, 1 passion fruit cultivation expert and 2 pest management experts for technical assistance.

Project Performance：

1. Increase by 20 percent the income of farmers producing passion fruit and citrus with the Royal Project Foundation.
2. Increase by 50 percent the renewing of passion fruit and citrus healthy seedlings promoted by Royal Project Foundation

Signing Date：2013-10-16

Mission：Other (Projects)