We are San Diego & Riverside County Farm Advisors
Effects of Drought and Botryophaeria Fungi on Permanent Crops
HLB - Potential Threat Near San Diego County
HLB detected in Riverside County:
The Asian citrus psyllid is a tiny, mottled brown insect about the size of an aphid that poses a serious threat to all of California's varieties of citrus (e.g., oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and mandarins).
“For more information on the Asian Citrus Psyllid, please click on “Exotic Pest” above”
The insect is associated with the fatal citrus disease Huanglongbing (HLB), also called citrus greening disease. The psyllid takes the bacteria into its body when it feeds on bacteria-infected plants and spreads when a bacteria-carrying psyllid flies to a healthy plant and injects bacteria into it as it feeds.
HLB can kill a citrus tree in as little as five years, and there is no known cure. All commonly grown citrus varieties are susceptible to the disease.
The only way to protect trees is to prevent spread of the HLB pathogen in the first place, by controlling psyllid populations and removing and destroying any infected trees.
Topics in Subtropics Blog
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Know Your Weather
Free CalAgroClimate tool helps growers protect crops from frost and extreme heat California farmers can see how climatic conditions that may affect agriculture are changing in their regions by using CalAgroClimate so they can make strategic changes....
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New Topics in Subtropics Newsletter
A new issue is available for Topics in Subtropics. Topics in Subtropics Volume 23 Spring 2023 Contents: Avocado Sunblotch Viroid Disease Citrus Yellow Vein Clearing Virus Insects Common to Avocados Download and view the newsletter...
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Citrus Webinars
The Citrus Research Board (CRB) is excited to announce the return of the 2023 Citrus Growers Educational Webinar Series. CRB will be holding four one-hour webinars scheduled for June 6, 13, 20, 27. Each webinar will highlight valuable research and...
Riverside and San Diego County Newsletter
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| Volume 1, Issue 3 | Read our latest local newsletter |
| Volume 1, Issue 2 | Read our latest local newsletter |
| Volume 1, Issue 1 | Read our latest local newsletter |
Topic in Subtropics Newsletter
| Issue | Articles |
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| Winter 2023 | Click here to read this issue of the Topics in Subtropics newsletter.
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| Fall 2022 | Click here to read this issue of the Topics in Subtropics newsletter. |
PEST ALERT - Black Fig Fly
(Diptera: Lonchaeidae: Silba adipata)
Invasive Fig Pest Recently Discovered in Southern California
Avocado: Food of the Gods
Watch this video (in Spanish here) on Avocado Fruit Production. California is the biggest avocado producer nationwide; this delicious, versatile fruit arrived in the state in the 1890s. The demand for avocados has increased substantially over the last couple of decades. Nevertheless, avocado production faces many challenges.
Avocado Production in California Books
Book 1: Background Information
In Book 1, Gary S. Bender, Farm Advisor, takes you through the history of the avocado industry in California and teaches you about grove development.
Book 2: Cultural Care
Book 2 focuses on cultural care and includes articles on irrigation, fertilization, disease and insect control, vertebrate pest management, pruning and frost management. The author for most of the articles is Gary S. Bender, Farm Advisor for Subtropical Horticulture in San Diego County.