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More wasps being released to control Asian citrus psyllid
Yesterday, the Farm Bureau of Ventura County hosted a meeting where the California Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee updated the community on efforts to control the devastating citrus pest. In addition to the residential releases of the imported natural enemy of ACP – known as Tamarixia radiata – the state is also preparing to invite organic commercial producers to request releases in their groves.
“We have referred one grower in the Bardsdale area, where an ACP population unfortunately appears to have become well established,” said John Krist, chief executive officer of the Farm Bureau of Ventura County.
The research effort is led by Mark Hoddle, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside. The UC Hansen Fund provided nearly $53,000 to Hoddle to fund work on biological control of ACP.
“The work Hansen funded will play a key role in the ACP suppression program throughout California, and it will become integral to the IPM program for commercial operations that Ventura County pioneered,” Krist said.
According to the LA Times article, USDA said it would set aside $1.5 million to scale up breeding and release efforts in California, Texas and Florida. An additional $125 million appropriated by Congress will be spent over the next five years to fund research into other methods to contain the spread of the disease.
"I think it's an excellent idea," Hoddle said.
The expansion will allow the California Department of Food and Agriculture to ramp up the scale of the breeding program.
Additional coverage:
Tiny 'vampire' wasps take on invasive citrus psyllid
Sanden Totten, Southern California Public Radio KPCC 89.3
Fighting Bugs with Bugs: Hatching A Solution for Troubled Trees
Steven Jackson, The Salt - What's on Your Plate, NPR
