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Source: http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=613eadcc-78b2-450f-ad5f-e5ea1217d78e&rss=tick
Devastating Citrus Pest Found Just South of Border
An insect that has devastated citrus crops in Florida and other parts of the world has turned up in northern Tijuana and may be migrating into Southern California, an industry group reported Friday.
On Thursday, the Mexican government confirmed the discovery of the Asian citrus psyllid in three locations about two miles south of the California border in Tijuana, according to the California Citrus Research Board.
The tiny, aphid-like winged bug is a carrier of a disease that has ravaged citrus groves throughout Florida and in other countries, including Asia, India and parts of the Middle East and Brazil.
The mottled-brown insect could "deliver a death sentence for California citrus trees," the CCRB warned in a statement.
The agency, working with government agriculture officials and the University of California, is planning a public awareness campaign about the hazard posed by the psyllid, said CCRB President and CEO Ted Batkin.
"This is the ugliest thing that we have seen in our industry," he said.
San Diego County Agriculture Commissioner Bob Atkins said the threat posed by the insect's possible move into the region "has the potential of being very significant."
"We're hoping the disease isn't anywhere nearby," Atkins said this afternoon.
So far, the pest has not turned up in the state, according to Batkin.
"But that doesn't mean it's not here -- we just haven't found it," he said.
The insect, whose scientific name is Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, is a threat to citrus trees of all kind. It wreaks its damage by spreading a bacteria that causes a condition called greening disease.
Infected trees develop stunted growth, sparsely foliated branches, unseasonable blooms and twig dieback, and produce small, lopsided, underdeveloped, hard, dry, bitter fruit, according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
When the psyllid was first found on the East Coast 10 years ago, there was scant effort to eradicate it, Batkin said. Two years ago, the plant malady it spreads -- named Huanglongbing, Chinese for "yellow dragon disease," or HLB for short -- began moving rapidly through Florida's citrus farms.
The epidemic has destroyed more than 65,000 acres of groves there -- nearly 20 percent of the state's entire crop, according to Batkin.
The psyllid passes the pathogen by feeding on the shoots and leaves of citrus trees of all kinds, including lime, lemon and grapefruit, as well as orange.
"It likes 'em all," Batkin said.
So far, the only way to deal with infected trees is to destroy them. Researchers, however, hope to develop treatments that will allow growers to save at least some sections of their groves.
The county official said he plans to recommend that the U.S. Department of Agriculture work with Mexican authorities to eradicate the psyllid south of the border, ideally before it crosses the international line.
Atkins noted that there have been no instances of greening disease in Baja California. The problem has surfaced in Mexico, but only in the eastern reaches of the country, he said.
"(Psyllids) don't necessarily carry the disease -- only if it's in the plants they're feeding on," Atkins said. "So the best safety is distance."
The coalition of agencies trying to prevent the spread of the pest is working up a public-education drive that likely will include direct mailers, broadcast announcements and pamphlets at retail nurseries, Batkin said.
Researchers also have stepped up their insect-trapping efforts along the Mexican border in San Diego County, hoping to rapidly determine if the psyllid has yet entered the United States, Batkin said.
Devastating Citrus Pest Found Just South of Border
An insect that has devastated citrus crops in Florida and other parts of the world has turned up in northern Tijuana and may be migrating into Southern California, an industry group reported Friday.
On Thursday, the Mexican government confirmed the discovery of the Asian citrus psyllid in three locations about two miles south of the California border in Tijuana, according to the California Citrus Research Board.
The tiny, aphid-like winged bug is a carrier of a disease that has ravaged citrus groves throughout Florida and in other countries, including Asia, India and parts of the Middle East and Brazil.
The mottled-brown insect could "deliver a death sentence for California citrus trees," the CCRB warned in a statement.
The agency, working with government agriculture officials and the University of California, is planning a public awareness campaign about the hazard posed by the psyllid, said CCRB President and CEO Ted Batkin.
"This is the ugliest thing that we have seen in our industry," he said.
San Diego County Agriculture Commissioner Bob Atkins said the threat posed by the insect's possible move into the region "has the potential of being very significant."
"We're hoping the disease isn't anywhere nearby," Atkins said this afternoon.
So far, the pest has not turned up in the state, according to Batkin.
"But that doesn't mean it's not here -- we just haven't found it," he said.
The insect, whose scientific name is Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, is a threat to citrus trees of all kind. It wreaks its damage by spreading a bacteria that causes a condition called greening disease.
Infected trees develop stunted growth, sparsely foliated branches, unseasonable blooms and twig dieback, and produce small, lopsided, underdeveloped, hard, dry, bitter fruit, according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
When the psyllid was first found on the East Coast 10 years ago, there was scant effort to eradicate it, Batkin said. Two years ago, the plant malady it spreads -- named Huanglongbing, Chinese for "yellow dragon disease," or HLB for short -- began moving rapidly through Florida's citrus farms.
The epidemic has destroyed more than 65,000 acres of groves there -- nearly 20 percent of the state's entire crop, according to Batkin.
The psyllid passes the pathogen by feeding on the shoots and leaves of citrus trees of all kinds, including lime, lemon and grapefruit, as well as orange.
"It likes 'em all," Batkin said.
So far, the only way to deal with infected trees is to destroy them. Researchers, however, hope to develop treatments that will allow growers to save at least some sections of their groves.
The county official said he plans to recommend that the U.S. Department of Agriculture work with Mexican authorities to eradicate the psyllid south of the border, ideally before it crosses the international line.
Atkins noted that there have been no instances of greening disease in Baja California. The problem has surfaced in Mexico, but only in the eastern reaches of the country, he said.
"(Psyllids) don't necessarily carry the disease -- only if it's in the plants they're feeding on," Atkins said. "So the best safety is distance."
The coalition of agencies trying to prevent the spread of the pest is working up a public-education drive that likely will include direct mailers, broadcast announcements and pamphlets at retail nurseries, Batkin said.
Researchers also have stepped up their insect-trapping efforts along the Mexican border in San Diego County, hoping to rapidly determine if the psyllid has yet entered the United States, Batkin said.