America
Dr Mani Skaria receives Potts Award for novel contributions to the citrus industry
By
Rod Santa Ana/AgriLife TodayThe award was presented earlier this month at the 70th
annual meeting of the Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society held at
the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and
The award was presented by Dr. Alex Racelis, president of the society and a biology professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
It is named for Arthur T. Potts, who conducted work in
citriculture long before the establishment of the commercial citrus industry in
In accepting the award, Skaria thanked his mentor, Dr. John Fucik, and many others who contributed to his successes, urging younger scientists in the audience to respect and honor those who came before them.
“I am being honored today because of all the people behind the scenes who helped me,†he said. “I could have never succeeded without them. To the young people in our industry, I urge you to always acknowledge and give thanks to the people who helped you in your careers, all of which is possible by the grace of God.â€
After a 25-year career as a scientist at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Citrus Center at Weslaco, Skaria launched a business based on advice he gave local citrus producers, to “think outside the box†in their efforts to remain profitable in a challenging market fraught with pests and devastating plant diseases, including citrus greening.
To combat major acreage losses in
The resulting trees, he said, produce abundant fruit in a fraction of the time required by conventionally budded citrus trees.
“By using micro-budded trees, we completely eliminated the nursery phase of tree development,†he said. “Instead of two years in the nursery, our trees are ready for planting in four months. This saves time and money.â€
Taking his own advice and with the assistance of investors, Skaria said he founded U.S. Citrus near Hargill, north of Edinburg, a 550-acre state-of-the-art facility with the potential to produce large quantities of high-quality, disease-free citrus trees of many different varieties for sale.
The venture has “well proven that commercialization of micro-budded, high-density citrus orchards is possible using modern techniques,†Skaria said. “In the old times, growers planted a citrus orchard with the idea that in 18 years, their children or grandchildren would eventually reap the full financial benefits of their efforts. This new
system reduces the time of full payback on an orchard investment from almost two decades to just half the time required of conventional trees.â€
Yields, he said, are also vastly improved while inputs are greatly reduced.
Skaria said he intends to extend his new technology to other
citrus producing areas of the world, including
Dr. Juan Landivar, director of the research center in
“This prestigious award honors those who go above and beyond their own interests in horticulture,†he said. “Dr. Skaria and other recipients work and live their lives in service of others, helping the industry succeed.
Previous Potts Award winners include retired U.S.
Congressman Kika de la Garza, Dr. Jose Amador, Dr. Ben Villalon, Barbara Storz,
Dr. Victor French and Clay Everhard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea80mf21cvs
Photo: A recently planted orchard at Skaria’s U.S. Citrus in Hargil shows micro-budded citrus trees planted in a high-density pattern. (AgriLife Communications photo by Rod Santa Ana)