CATCH THE BUZZ - CITRUS PESTICIDES ONLY GETTING WORSE

CATCH THE BUZZ

 

The pressure is on to eradicate deadly organism affecting citrus crops worldwide

from newswise.com

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Americans may find a glass of their favorite breakfast staple, orange juice, hard to come by in the next few years if a certain bacteria has its way. According to a spokesperson with the Florida Citrus Mutual, Florida’s orange crop could shrink within five years by about 12%, to 140 million 90-pound boxes, as the state battles the tree-killing disease known as the “Citrus Greening Disease,” or Citrus Huanglongbing.

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Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) – also known as “citrus greening” - is a serious bacterial disease that is adversely affecting citrus groves worldwide. The disease has already been responsible for the significant decrease in citrus production in many countries in Asia, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Brazil. HLB disease, spread by insect called a citrus psyllid, has no known cure , affects all of the main types of citrus, and can ultimately kill the trees. If unstopped, the potential economic impact to the multi-billion dollar citrus industry of the U.S. and the rest of the world could be devastating.

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HLB was first detected in Florida in 2005. The Sunshine State’s citrus industry is now mounting a multi-million dollar research effort to try and overcome citrus greening, as the increasing spread of HLB disease is threatening the future of this sector in the U.S.. With commercial citrus production across the entire state now affected by citrus greening, the Florida citrus industry said it plans to carry out extensive research to find short and long-term solutions to the disease.

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The 2008-2009 harvests, which ended in July, is forecasted at 159.6 million boxes, down from 170.2 million last year. Growers are awaiting a September tree census to determine how many acres of citrus groves have been lost to citrus greening. The disease was first discovered after a parade of hurricanes battered the groves, and has spread to all thirty-two of Florida’s citrus-growing counties.

At present, the only methods available to curtail citrus greening involve using pesticide to kill the insects, hiring more scouts to inspect the groves, and immediately removing infected trees.

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