Agroecological Guide to Organic Orange Production

The Centro de Investigaciones Interdisciplinarias para el Desarrollo Rural Integral (CIIDRI) of the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo in Mexico has developed in the last decade a successful experience of organic orange production, which allows for reduced production costs, higher production than conventional orchards and a price premium of more than 100% when sold in the organic market, The benefits of agroecological management include greater conservation and improvement of soils, protection of biodiversity, recycling of nutrients, use of local resources, obtaining fruit without agrochemicals for the consumer, and maintaining the health of growers and workers. The text includes a detailed description of the agroecological practices used for organic orange production and cultural practices, namely: plantation establishment, weed management, pruning, fertilization (composting, bocashi, vermiculture, reproduction of local microorganisms, supermagro, etc); ecological methods for pest and disease management (sulfocalcic broth, ash broth, Bordeaux broth, etc) and others.