Proceedings of the Mediterranean network on certification of citrus : 1998-2001 Options méditerranéennes SERIE B : studies and research Series, Vol. 43

After a prosperous era in the fifties and sixties, the Moroccan citrus industry started to encounter constraining problems of low yields and poor quality due to the widespread prevalence of virus and virus-like diseases. Attempts to counter this situation by setting up a voluntary certification program failed to alter the situation. However, incentives such as financial subsidies for the use of certified plants incited major citrus nurseries to adopt the certification program. Agricultural Domaines initiated their certification program in 1997 through the Plant Control Unit in Rabat where sanitation and indexing facilities were installed. Selected varieties and clones have been sanitized and conserved. Categories of materials required by certification regulations are produced and maintained under screenhouse conditions. The Domaines nurseries in the Rabat and Agadir regions are assisted and supplied with certified budwood of 24 appraised commercial varieties and certified rootstock seeds for production of certified citrus nursery plants.