I believe that no matter what they do the psyillid will eventually infest every citrus growing region of the country. Prevention is hopeless. Management is now our only hope.

http://www.thesungazette.com/articles/2012/02/29/news/news01.txt

Citrus pest found near Lindsay

By Reggie Ellis Updated: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 10:20 AM PST

Tulare County’s citrus belt tightened up last week when agriculture inspectors found evidence of the citrus industry’s biggest threat.

Tulare County Agriculture Commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita confirmed a single Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), a pest known to carry the deadly citrus disease huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening, was found in an insect trap in a citrus orchard southeast of Lindsay. Kinoshita said the pest was found on Feb. 11 on a trap actually designed to catch glassy-winged sharpshooters, a pest carrying the grape killing citrus canker disease.

“Tests have confirmed that the psyllid was not carrying the HLB disease,” Kinoshita said.

The discovery triggered a response from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), which mobilized about 24 crews trained in pest exclusion already dealing with ACP in Los Angeles County. Kinoshita said the crews checked 100 traps daily in a one-mile radius from where the pest was found for 10 days.

“It’s been so cool and dry that we feel this is an anomaly that we found this pest,” said Kinoshita, who worked as a pest trapper in Merced County for six years. “We don’t anticipate any more problems this year.”

But Kinoshita said her office would not be letting down its guard. About 150 traps have been set up in a 9-mile area and will be checked every two weeks for the next two years.

While growers, packing houses, nurseries and garden suppliers are diligent in their inspections, there is always the possibility of illegal plant movements, such as plant material transported in from another area or a citrus tree purchased in another state or online from an area where the pest is pervasive.

“Internet sales are an increasing problem for us,” Kinoshita said. “If you have any doubts that you may be bringing in a pest, please call our office.”

The pest represents a serious threat to Tulare County’s overall economy, as citrus is the California’s No. 1 export and Tulare County is the state’s No. 1 citrus producing county. Tulare County is home to over 100,000 acres of citrus, 60 citrus packinghouses and four citrus juice plants. Tulare County citrus represents more than half a billion dollars annually of the state’s $1.88 billion industry.

“We are ground zero for this pest because we have the most to lose,” Kinoshita said. “So many people here are dependant on the ag economy.”

HLB is the most devastating disease of citrus in the world. Symptoms of HLB include yellow shoots, leaf mottle, small upright leaves and lopsided fruit with a bitter flavor. Infected trees decline in health, produce inedible fruit and eventually die. There is no cure for the disease and infected trees must be removed and destroyed to prevent further spread of HLB.

The state of Florida first detected the pest in 1998 and the disease in 2005, and the two have now been detected in all 30 citrus producing counties in that state. The pest and the disease are also present in Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina. The states of Texas, Mississippi and Alabama have detected the pest but not the disease. HLB infected psyllids have already caused devastation in Asia, India, parts of the Middle East, and South and Central America. The psyllids have also been detected in Hawaii, and both the pest and disease have been detected in Mexico. ACP quarantines are now in place in Ventura, San Diego, Imperial, Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

“This was a dry run for our pest system and overall it was an OK event,” Kinoshita said.