By Clint Thompson
Citrus has a bright future for specialty crop growers in South Georgia. The University of Georgia sees that potential and wants to help producers achieve production success – now and into the future. Its recent hiring of Mary Sutton as the new citrus Extension specialist should aid in that process.
Sutton started on Aug. 1 and is excited to help spur the industry, which has been growing for a decade.
“It’s very exciting to be on the ground floor for this. I’m very excited to see where the industry is going. I think it has a lot of potential here in Georgia,” Sutton said. “Basically, I’m here for the growers. They have a lot of questions. I know a lot of them have ventured in the dark with what kind of fertilizer to use; how much to put out; how to do irrigation; all of those kind of things. My goal is to try to answer as many questions as possible and get them the best recommendations.”
Sutton’s appointment is divided between 75% Extension and 20% research.
“All of the research I’ll be doing will be to support the Extension side,” Sutton said. “Everything I’ll be doing will be to figure out how much fertilizer the trees need; when they need it; how much water they need; what kind of pruning practices or thinning practices would be best for the trees here in Georgia.”
Second Citrus Hire
It is the second major citrus hire for the University of Georgia in the last couple of months. It turned to Dario Chavez, one of its own, to man the newly created peach and citrus breeder position in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
Chavez’s research program will focus on developing peach and citrus cultivars that favor production in the Southeast. The goal is to enhance production of both crops in Georgia.