This from February 26, 2013

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/feb/26/citrus-growers-might-face-penalties-for-refusing/


Gonzales’ other significant announcement Tuesday was that organic growers will be able to keep their organic certification if they spray the pesticides recommended for the psyllid because of the state’s emergency situation. They will not be able to sell the treated crop as organic, he said.

“That’s huge for us and the organic folk,” Gonzales said.

This was posted as a positive for the "organic" growers.

BUT

I don't see the positiveness. Is that a word? The ACP has found another new home and I doubt that CA will be any more effective at irradicating them than FL was. This means that there will not be any "ORGANIC" citrus available in CA from this point forward.

How can they remain certified as organic if they have sprayed. A piece of paper declaring an emergency issue doesn't clean the soil. I do not believe the CA consumers will be impressed. Bunch of double speak. They'll be spraying for years and the beauracrats will blissfully say, You're still ORGANIC

BUT

you can't sell it labeled organic.

What kind of crap is that?

I agree, something about that doesn't make logical sense.

There's one more interesting nugget in the article:

"California’s Department of Food and Agriculture sprays all trees that are possible hosts to the psyllid on residential properties within 800 meters of where the insect has been found. But commercial growers, defined by the state as those with 25 trees or more, are strongly urged to treat their orchards within that zone, and nearly all have, Gonzales said."

So does this mean people like Patty are "Commercial Growers" according to the state of California????

Spraying is nothing new in California. The State sprayed everything in the past when Med Fly was discovered. If Greening explodes in California, as it has done in Florida, the Organic growers will be history anyway. - Millet

In this article they hint that control by spraying has failed. You have to read between the lines a bit.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=citrus-can-scientists-wasps-save-orange-juice

The site may seem random, but in fact the Hoddles used state data to identify this site as being particularly infested with Asian citrus psyllids, which Christina calls “ACP” for short in this clip.


That snippet begs the question, Why aren't you spraying the dog mess out of that curry bush? Not effective huh!

Here is an article on the wasp.

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/wasps/tamarixia_radiata.htm

I hope they can live, breed and prosper in my area.

"Greening" is a gram-negative bacteria which means that it has a protective membrane around each bacterium; basically they have body armor! If you can break down the membranes, the bacteria is much easier to kill. That will be a possible future attack point.

Hoping to kill all the psyllid carriers is, I believe, similar to whistling in the graveyard.

I'd like to be wrong about that.

Yes, Scott, technically, it does. That's what the CDFA officer told me, when I had called him about the ACP finding in Valley Center (NE San Diego county, about 20 miles east of me) about a year ago. He became very interested in my property. A little too interested, actually. Wanted to know why I had so many citrus trees. I told him I was a CRFG member and that many or more stone fruits as well, and that I am a hobbyist grower. But, that doesn't meant they'll come and spray my trees for me. I asked that question. He asked if I sold my citrus, and when I said I did not, he lost interest. Even though I told him my property backs a 147 acre abandoned Valencia orange orchard (which is being monitored, but only the northeast section, and I sit at the southwest corner of that orchard).

It is a very tough decision here in California. I try to stay as organic as I possibly can with a few exceptions. I grow my own fruit so I can control what chemicals are placed on them, because that way, I know exactly what I'm eating. And, I could try spraying very frequently (every 2 weeks) with either hort oil and/or Spinosad, but it doesn't do nearly as complete a job as Imidacloprid and other insecticides do against the psyllid. Plus, I work full time and I don't think I could keep up that kind of frequent spraying program, and during the heat of summer, I would not be able to use hort oil.

Dave, there are some very promising vector research going on right now, that are directed at control/eradication of the psyllid. Part of the problem with this psyllid is it has no natural enemies, since it is a foreign insect, so some studies have involved bringing in a couple of tiny parasitic wasps. Other research programs have been studying breeding to create sterile ACP's, thus naturally wiping out their populations. So, not so much "whistling in a graveyard", there are several other research projects going on right now, targeting the vector. Also, many being conducted targeting the bacterium as well as research projects focusing on the development of resistant cultivars. Undoubtedly, it will be a combination of several of these tactics that will eventually control or eradicate HLB and the ACP. Just a race against time here in California.

http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.org/landingpage.cfm?article=ca.v066n04p127&fulltext=yes