Topics in Subtropics

Persea americana is the botanical name for avocado. It's been traditionally subdivided into tribes or groups comprising the Mexican, Guatemalan and West Indian horticultural races. The races look, taste and even smell different, but they hybridize easily so, they are considered one species.

The recent find of an infected adult Asian citrus psyllid in Santa Paula prompted the search for the potentially infected tree by CA Department of Food and Agriculture personnel to spread out to look and test. Two trees were found and presumably they will be destroyed.

The following information is provided as a service to members and friends of Ventura County's citrus industry.

Texas A&M AgriLife researchers have made a discovery that will help combat fastidious pathogens, which cost U.S. agriculture alone billions of dollars annually. Kranthi Mandadi, Ph.D., inspects a grapefruit for citrus greening. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo) For the past few years, Kranthi Mandadi, Ph.

If you haven't done it yet, it's that time of year to be doing leaf analysis for citrus and avocados. Analysis prevents deficiency symptoms from appearing and maintains good yields, all else being well done.