According to Rigoberto Flores Virgen, although the presence of the Huanglongbing in the citrus orchards of Colima was not the direct cause of the decrease of over 19,000 hectares in area in the last few years, it was one of its triggers.
The state coordinator of the campaign against the HLB in Colima noted that, since the disease was discovered in 2010, producers have long struggled to maintain production, as the 40,000 hectares that they initially had decreased to 21,000 hectares because of the Huanglongbing and other factors.
He said the presence of the HLB bacterium had caused many producers to focus on other crops and considerable increases in production costs for those who still cultivated citrus.
He explained that the HLB caused the citrus tree to become susceptible to the effects of other diseases and, therefore, apart from checking for its transmitting insect, the Diaphorina citri, producers had to apply pesticides to control other diseases.
He noted that, unlike the Sonoran producers who took action once they were alerted of the presence of the disease, Colima growers did not believe in the disease and thus have suffered devastating results.
For this reason, the coordinator encouraged producers of Sonora to continue their good practices to avoid the presence of the disease, which so far has no cure.
Source: TRIBUNA