Citrus growers trying to cut off deadly disease

By KYLE ARNOLD/The Monitor
WESLACO — Citrus officials from across the state met Wednesday in Weslaco to try to circumvent an attack on local citrus by disease-carrying insects.

Last week, a state and federal quarantine was issued for citrus plants, not fruit, in the Rio Grande Valley and 29 Texas counties outside the region. The quarantine prohibits shipping plants to other areas of the state and country unless they are sprayed for Asian citrus psyllids, which are capable of carrying a disease called “greening” that poses a serious threat to young plants.

The quarantine doesn’t affect fruit distribution.

So far, the disease hasn’t spread to the Valley, but citrus growers and state officials are doing all they can to make sure it doesn’t.

“This quarantine is not a big deal. We’ve had the psyllids for a long time,” said Ray Prewett, president of Texas Citrus Mutual, an association of citrus growers and sellers. “We are trying to prevent the spread of the psyllid so we don’t get the disease here.”

The pests have been detected in South Texas but the disease has not.

Citrus greening is a bacterial citrus disease that produces misshapen and bitter fruit, making it unmarketable. It affects young plants and causes them to die, often within three to five years. While devastating to citrus crops, greening is not harmful to humans.

The greening disease is carried by the psyllids, although not all of the pests carry the disease. Often the disease isn’t detectable for at least two years after the trees are infected, Prewett said.

While the disease hasn’t affected the Valley yet, it has hit some areas of Florida particularly hard, though the leading citrus state is still expected to ship a record crop this year, according to an October report from the Florida Department of Citrus. The disease hasn’t had enough of an effect on the Florida crop to influence Valley citrus prices.

Prewett said the Texas citrus industry lobbied to have the quarantine adopted to try to limit the pests as much as possible.

If the disease does spread to the Valley, it could have disastrous effects on the area’s citrus crop, said John McClung, president of the Texas Produce Association, an Edinburg-based fruit and vegetable marketing group.

Last year the citrus industry contributed about $200 million to the local economy, according to state reports.

“It’s not just a matter for the commercial citrus industry in the Rio Grande Valley,” McClung said. “Were we to get the greening disease (anywhere in the United States) it would have huge economic effects.”

While the word quarantine sounds harsh, the announcement doesn’t affect the sale of local fruit, McClung said.

However, word of the quarantine has reverberated throughout the industry, said Jeff Arnold, general manager of the Edinburg Citrus Association.

“I got a dozen calls from buyers to see what’s going on with fruit, specifically talking about the quarantine,” Arnold said.

Fruit is shipping as normal, Arnold said.


Source: http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/citrus_15116___article.html/disease_quarantine.html

Editorial: Preventive measures keeping citrus healthy

Web Posted: 12/10/2007 12:25 AM CST
Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/stories/MYSA121007.01O.citrus2ed.16c727d.html
San Antonio Express-News

The joint effort of the Texas Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fight the spread of the Asian citrus psyllid is important for citrus growers in the state.

The agriculture agencies have imposed a quarantine on citrus plants in a 32-county region of the state that includes Bexar County. It also includes much of the Rio Grande Valley, the location of the primary citrus growing counties in the state.

Fortunately the quarantine does not affect the sale of oranges, grapefruits and other citrus fruits. It does require that citrus plants be treated with specified chemicals before they can be shipped outside the quarantine area.

The precautionary measure was taken after a statewide survey by Texas A&M University researchers found the citrus psyllids present in some areas of the state.

The proactive early prevention measures will help protect the $160 million citrus industry and ensure that 28,000 commercial citrus acres in the Rio Grande Valley will remain productive.

Texas joins Florida, Guam, Puerto Rico and Hawaii in the federal quarantine. In Brazil the disease has affected about 70 percent of the fruit production.

The disease causes citrus trees to yellow, inhibits new growth and reduces yield.

The quarantine includes producers and commercial nurseries that sell to landscapers, developers and hobbyist gardeners.

Complying with the quarantine seems a small price to pay to keep nice, healthy Texas citrus in our fruit bowl.