Citrus greening is one of the deadliest bacterial diseases in citrus production. Caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) and vectored by the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP, Diaphorina citri), the disease has devastated Florida’s citrus industry, reducing production by over 75% during the last twenty years. The Indian River Region, known for its premier grapefruit production, has suffered an intense decline in yield and acreage. Growers in the region have been fighting the pathogen and its insect vector, however, a long-term solution is required for sustainable grapefruit production. As no HLB resistance is known in commercially available cultivars, the University of Florida Breeding Program has bred new grapefruit hybrids with potential HLB tolerance. Plants developed through the program need to be field-tested. This study was initiated to evaluate new fresh grapefruit scion and rootstock breeding materials for HLB-tolerant. In collaboration with twelve growers across the state, a large trial was planted between 2020 and 2022 with 40 plots, each with forty-two scion/rootstock combinations totaling 12,000 trees. Among other tree growth data collected, fruit yield and quality were measured this season between October 2023 and March 2024. Results confirm that 'Jackson' grapefruit has some HLB tolerance, possibly due to its vigorous nature. However, its high fruit drop and inconsistent fruit set are persistent grower concerns. Among the newly developed grapefruit hybrids, 'UF N40-16-11-7' grafted onto SuperSour #1 and UFR-5, and the pummelo hybrid 'UF KW-50-1' grafted onto X-639 had low HLB disease indexes, equivalent to ‘Jackson’. On trees fruiting for the first time, the pummelo hybrid ‘UF KW-1-50’ grafted onto SuperSour #1 had the highest yield, mainly due to the pummelo heritage, followed by red grapefruit ‘UF N40-16-11-7’ also grafted onto SuperSour #1 and ‘Rio Red’ onto US-942. With tree ages ranging from 2 to 4 years, further data collection is needed to determine sustained yield and fruit quality. These results can help determine which combinations are most HLB-tolerant and best for planting in the Indian River Region.
