- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Citrus Research Board is arranging to bring specially trained dogs to the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center to test their ability to sniff out the devastating citrus disease huanglongbing, reported Bob Rodriguez in the Fresno Bee.
CRB president Gary Schulz is working with the USDA, which is training dogs in Florida to identify trees with huanglongbing soon after the trees are infected. HLB has ravaged Florida's citrus industry. In California, the disease has been found about 800 Southern California backyard trees, but officials have so far managed to keep it out of the state's commercial...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Three citrus trees that produce inedible fruit at the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center in Visalia may be a game-changer for the citrus industry, reported Ezra David Romero on Valley Public Radio.
The trees are thought to be resistant to huanglongbing, a severe disease of citrus that has devastated the Florida industry and could become a serious problem in California. The citrus-saving potential of the three 34-year-old trees was outlined in an article by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources writer Hazel White in the most recent issue...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Backyard citrus trees in Highland, Calif., were sprayed with a pesticide to kill Asian citrus psyllids, reported Jim Steinberg in the San Bernardino Sun. The invasive pests pose a threat because they can carry huanglongbing disease, which is incurable. The California Department of Food and Agriculture is treating trees that have ACP to keep the pest number in California low.
“What they are really doing is buying time until disease resistant trees become available, or there is some treatment for the (huanglongbing) disease,” said Matt...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Asian citrus psyllid is public enemy No. 1 at the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center in Exeter, reported Dale Yurong on ABC30 Action News in Fresno. Yurong visited Lindcove to interview UC Cooperative Extension citrus entomology specialist Beth Grafton-Cardwell, who along with other UC ANR experts is calling on Californians to join the fight against the pest.
"Basically, you just look really closely (at new growth) with any kind of magnifying device you have to see if you can find...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The early morning agriculture show on KMJ 580 in Fresno opened this morning with comments about UC's new Asian citrus psyllid website from Beth Grafton-Cardwell, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside.
"There are a lot of websites out there relating to Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing disease," Grafton-Cardwell said. "What I tried to do in this one is give it a management focus with action steps: Here's where the bug and disease are, here's what you should do if you're a grower, here's what you should do if you're a homeowner. It connects the dots."
The story notes that the website...