http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20120411/NEWS01/120411006/App-help-Valley-residents-fight-citrus-disease

App to help Valley residents fight citrus disease

Written by
DAVID CASTELLON
1:17 AM, Apr. 11, 2012


This photo, taken Tuesday, shows the “Save our
Citrus” app for iPhone.The app can be downloaded
through the Apple iTunes Store for free. / Juan Villa

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is trying a new method to fight the spread of Asian citrus psyllids and their threat to citrus in California and other parts of the country — a smartphone application.

On Monday, the agency launched the “Save Our Citrus” app for iPhones, iPod Touch devices and iPads.

The app features information on huanglongbing, the bacteria spread by the psyllids that has devastated large swaths of citrus crops around the world, including China and Brazil, as well large portions of Florida’s citrus crops.

Also known as “HLB” and “citrus greening,” the disease has been found in other states, including a single infected tree and psyllid discovered in recent weeks near Los Angeles.

Asian citrus psyllids have been found across Southern California — though only a single infected insect has been found in Hacienda Heights so far.

But there are concerns that if the pests migrate to the Central Valley, they could bring with them HLB, a major threat to the citrus industries here.

While the new app may end up being used by farmers, “It’s really geared to residents, not commercial growers,” particularly in the major citrus-growing states that include of California, Florida, Arizona and Texas, said Larry Hawkins, a USDA spokesman.

Most of the HLB-infected trees found in the U.S. — including the tree in Hacienda Heights — have been in residential areas, he said.

And the disease isn’t just a commercial threat, because it can kill citrus trees planted in people’s yards.

And in California, the number of residential citrus trees outnumber all the commercial citrus trees in some states, Hawkins said.

The USDA app can be downloaded for free through the Apple iTunes Store. With it, people will be able to use their hand-held devices to get information about HLB, and photos of infected leaves and fruit.

Using their iPhones and other devices, residents also can fill out questionnaires about their trees and send a report to the USDA — along with photos of suspect fruit and leaves.

And the app provides more than just HLB information.

Tree owners can use it to look up symptoms and report three other major citrus diseases: Citrus canker, sweet orange scab and citrus black spot.

But HLB is most serious of the three, as it has no cure and has been described as the biggest threat to California’s $1.3 billion citrus industry now faces.

Asian citrus psyllids feed on the leaves and stems of citrus trees. If they bite infected trees, they spread the HLB bacteria to other trees on which they feed.

Over a matter of two years or more, HLB causes citrus trees to produce bitter and eventually die. Treatment usually involves pulling out infected trees and destroying.

In Florida, HLB has resulted in about 200,000 acres of commercial citrus groves being uprooted, and another 40,000 acres being abandoned. In comparison, California has more than 285,000 acres of commercial citrus groves, with about 119,000 of those acres in Tulare County.

Joel Nelsen, president of Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual, said the app is part of a media campaign to raise awareness amid the general public about HLB and the other citrus diseases.

It includes “Don’t Move Citrus” television and radio ads warning that moving citrus plants by car or truck could allow some of these diseases to migrate hundreds of miles.

“Move a citrus plant, and it could be game over for our citrus,” warns the USDA television spot.

Nelsen said the Save Our Citrus App is an innovative outreach step to the general public.

“This terrible disease impacts all of us, and we have to continue working together to find it and stop it before it spreads,” he said.

And even though commercial citrus growers are acutely aware of HLB and its threat, some citrus tree nursery operators contacted said many home citrus growers don’t know much about it, despite the industry spending about $1 million a year to educate the public.

“As far as the general public, I have not heard one mention of it at all,” said Steve Chaffin, general manager of Luis’ Nursery, east of Visalia.

He said he believes the app is a good idea, but it may not get widely used — at least at first — by home gardeners because a lot of his customers are older and “they probably don’t know what an iPhone is.”

But more may use the app or the USDA’s SaveOurCitrus.org website if the threat of HLB gets worse, Chaffin said.

Hawkins said plans are to develop a similar app for Android phones, but he didn’t know when that may be available.