Bayer CropScience teams with California Citrus Mutual to save California citrus.
VISALIA, Calif. — The latest discovery of a dead Asian citrus psyllid on a trap in the backyard of a home here is is the 54th discovery of the pest since 2011 and the sixth this year in Tulare County. The psyllid can transmit a deadly citrus disease known as Huanglongbing (HLB), commonly referred to as citrus greening. The spread of the disease could be devastating to the state’s citrus industry.
The disease HLB has no known cure, and once infected, citrus trees decline in health, produce inedible fruit and eventually die, generally in five years. The Asian citrus psyllid can move quickly from residential areas into neighboring commercial groves.
Homeowners must become first lines of the battle against the spread of the psyllid, said Lance Walheim, advanced garden expert with Bayer CropScience, which has partnered with California Citrus Mutual in kicking off #CitrusMatters. The campaign will utilize an educational website, www.citrusmatters.us, and the hashtag #CitrusMatters in social media to educate California residents about the dangers of the disease and empower them to take action to help prevent the spread of HLB in California.
Read the complete article in the Porterville Recorder here.
