Officials in California have stepped up efforts to halt the spread of a virulent disease that could wipe out the state’s US$1.3bn citrus industry.
News sources say hundreds of traps have been laid along the California-Mexico border following the discovery of Asian Citrus Psyllid in orange trees just south of the state. The bug can be a carrier of the fatal Huanglongbing – also known as HLB or Citrus Greening Disease – which has already caused widespread devastation in Asia, parts of the Middle East and South and Central America.
The California Citrus Research Board and government and state officials met with growers and other citrus industry leaders late last week to warn them of the dangers posed by the disease.
“The disease is most likely to infect California citrus via the Asian Citrus Psyllid, meaning presence of the psyllid is a sign of danger,” said CCRB president Ted Batkin. “The pest has already been detected as close as the San Diego-Tijuana border and has been intercepted at various points in California in packages of fruit and plants, including cut flowers. The threat is now greater than ever.”
In addition to working with the industry, the CCRB is calling on homeowners to help stop the spread of the disease by carrying out regular inspections on their trees, and has launched a new website – www.californiacitrusthreat.org – with information helping them to identify the pest.
Experts warn that the bug has the potential to wreak more damage than the Mediterranean fruit fly because it puts entire groves – not just fruit – at risk. Psyllids feed on the liquid inside citrus leaves and once a bug eats from an infected tree, it carries the bacteria for life. Every tree an infected bug subsequently bites will die.
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