(Photo courtesy of UF/IFAS)
Federal and state agriculture officials recently expanded the areas quarantined for huanglongbing (HLB, also known as citrus greening) disease in California. The quarantined area in the Foothill Ranch and Mission Viejo areas of Orange County has been expanded by 26.69 square miles, the Riverside area of Riverside County by 11.3 square miles, and the Valley Center area of San Diego County by 85.19 square miles. These quarantine expansions impact 2,761.85 acres of commercial citrus.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture made the quarantine changes. These actions were taken because of HLB detections in plant tissue samples collected from residential properties in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures pertaining to the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined areas in California. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of HLB to non-infested areas of the United States.
The APHIS Citrus Greening website contains specific changes to the quarantined areas in California. The website notes that infected trees produce fruits that are bitter, poorly colored and possibly lopsided. This fruit can only be sold for juicing and not for the fresh market.
Citrus greening is currently found throughout Georgia, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is also found in portions of Alabama, California, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas.
According to the APHIS website, the best way to prevent the introduction of citrus greening is to prevent the introduction of the Asian citrus psyllid, the insect that spreads the disease from tree to tree. Currently, intensive chemical control is the primary management tool to reduce psyllid populations, but this strategy is costly and increasingly ineffective. The scientific community is searching aggressively for solutions.
Source: APHIS
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