- Author: Ben Faber
USDA Creates Multi-Agency Emergency Response Framework to Combat Devastating Citrus Disease | |||||
USDA Providing $1 million to Jump Start Citrus Response Framework | |||||
WASHINGTON, December 12, 2013 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the creation of a new, unified emergency response framework to address Huanglongbing (HLB), a serious disease of citrus that affects several U.S. states and territories. This new framework will allow USDA and its many partners to better coordinate HLB resources, share information and develop operational strategies to maximize effectiveness. "USDA listened to the citrus industry's request for more urgency and greater coordination on the response to HLB and is implementing an emergency response structure," said Secretary Tom Vilsack. "To jump start this initiative and affirm our commitment to industry, USDA is also providing $1 million to be used in support of research projects that can bring practical and short-term solutions to the growers in their efforts to combat this disease. Through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative of the Farm Bill, USDA has provided $9 million in research to blocking the ability of insects to spread HLB to healthy trees. We need Congress to quickly pass a new Farm, Food, and Jobs Bill that continues to support this kind of research to protect a crop worth more than $3 billion in the last harvest." The new framework will bring together USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), along with state departments of agriculture and the citrus industry into a Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC) Group for HLB. It will provide industry with a single contact for all the federal and state entities that work on citrus issues and better enable the collective to collaborate on policy decisions, establish priorities, allocate critical resources, and collect, analyze, and disseminate information. The HLB MAC Group will also help coordinate Federal research with industry's efforts to complement and fill research gaps, reduce unnecessary duplication, speed progress and more quickly provide practical tools for citrus growers to use. HLB, also known as citrus greening, is named for the green, misshapen, and bitter-tasting fruit it causes. While this bacterial disease poses no danger to humans or animals, it has devastated millions of acres of citrus crops throughout the United States and abroad. In the United States, the entire States of Florida and Georgia are under quarantine for HLB, and portions of California, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas are also under quarantine for the disease. The U.S. Territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are under HLB quarantines as well. You can find more information about HLB and the HLB MAC Group on USDA's Multi-Agency Response to Devastating Citrus Disease website. See the USDA Animal and Health Inspection Service's website for additional Q&A Contact: # Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media advisories are available on the Internet and through Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. Go to the APHIS news release page at www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom and click on the RSS feed link. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users). |
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- Author: Ben Faber
We have had resurgence of broad mite damage on coastal lemons this year. We haven't seen damage like this in a long time. Chlorpyriphos should care of it, but with small orchards, spray drift can be an issue. We looked at releasing the predatoiry mite Neoseiulus californicus. In the lab we challenged broad mite successfully so we took it out to the field. This is not the best time to release, because of the cold weather. Also it's best to release into a rising pest pressure. When there are too many pest mites, it's difficult to get good control. We released at an economic level of about 100 per tree, whihch would cost about $150 per acre. We've counted for 5 weeks and there is little apparent control in the field. ikt's just been too cold to build the population of beneficials. We'll try again next spring if the broad miter is there.
Curlling leaves from mite damage and the small mites hiding in fruit depressions
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Evaluating Damage to Baby Trees Requires Patience
Earlier temperatures and forecasted temperatures do not appear to be cold enough to freeze baby trees in the citrus belt. Time will tell. Semi-dormant wood in the winter looks dry even when it is healthy, so any final evaluation should be conducted in the warmth of spring. With warmer temperatures, frozen bark will peel easily from the young trunk and the degree of damage easily estimated. A tree, even those frozen down to the top of the wrap, can make an amazing recovery. Growers, in the summer after the 1990 freeze had some success budding onto the rootstocks that remained after the scions were killed by frost.
It may be better to replace a tree if it is still alive under the trunk wrap but badly damaged. Badly frozen trees regrow fairly slowly, and often are not able to resist pathogens that grow into the wood such as fungal Fusarium species causing dry root rot. Slow growing Fusarium in the wood can take up to 10 or 15 years to kill a tree.
Badly Frozen Young Trees
Badly frozen fruit may start dropping from the tree shortly after the freeze, but other fruit may hang on the tree longer than unfrozen fruit. Many growers resist picking or dropping frozen fruit in that it is another expense, at a time of little income. Reasons for dropping the fruit, even if it cannot be sold for juice, include:
Ensuring that the frozen fruit does not interfere with spring fruit set. Navel oranges, for example, will not set as much fruit if last season’s fruit remains on the tree.
Old frost-damaged fruit may harbor fungal pathogens that may infect the new crop, such as clear rot (Penicillium sp.), tear staining (Colletotrichum sp), brown rot (Phytophthora sps.) or Septoria organisms.
Avoiding having to separate last year’s partially frozen fruit from the new crop at harvest next year.
Preventing partially frozen fruit from providing habitat for insect pests.
- Author: Ben Faber
Date: December 13, 2013
Time: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Contact: Anita Hunt
Sponsor: Lindcove Research & Extension Center
Location: 22963 Carson Ave, Exeter, CA 93221, USA
Citrus growers and other Ag professionals are invited to attend the University of California, Lindcove Research and Extension Center Annual Citrus Fruit Display and Tasting on Friday December 13th starting at 9:00 A.M. During the Citrus Fruit Display day, you can see and taste more than 100 citrus varieties that are grown at Lindcove.
Education Building Activities 9 am - Noon
•Taste fruit at your leisure
Walking tour starts at 10 am
•Tour the Citrus Clonal Protection facilities that produce budwood with Dr. Georgios Vidalakis.
•View the action of the new fruit grading system in the packline that provides researchers with detailed information about fruit size, weight and quality demonstrated by Don Cleek
•Tour the demonstration orchard with Dr. Tracy Kahn who will discuss new citrus varieties
Directions: Take Highway 198 east to Mehrten Drive (approximately 15 miles) and follow the signs to our Event. The University of Lindcove Research and Extension Center is located at 22963 Carson Avenue Exeter, CA. The Education Building is located at the end of Carson Avenue. If you have any questions please contact Anita Hunt at 559-592-2408 Ext 151.
- Author: Ben Faber
A note just caught my eye of China requesting to export fresh apples to the US. They already are the major exporter of apple juice to the US, and now fresh fruit. I went online to see what other countries are requesting to send here and was impressed that the Philippines, Ecuador, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and Columbia all want to export 'Hass' avocado here and Swaziland, Chile and Mexico all want to send more citrus here. The link is to the USDA-APHIS website:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/plant_imports/downloads/PRAlist.pdf