The Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Gustavo Mostajo Ocola, signed with his Ecuadorian counterpart, Ruben Flores Agreda, an agreement that will allow both nations to join forces to face the Huanglongbing (HLB) disease, which is the most destructive pest for lemons, oranges and mandarins and that has been undermining production in several countries of the world.
Mostajo Ocola highlighted the importance of establishing common strategic alliances in border areas between both countries to combat the plague and establish common mechanisms of action before their presence or introduction.
With this agreement, Peru hopes to avoid the entry of the vector (the almost imperceptible insect Diaphorina citri) from Ecuador and its establishment in Peru. This will be achieved with the active participation of regional and local governments, private associations, and large producers in defense of small and medium-sized agriculture.
The National Agrarian Health Service (Senasa) has permanently intensified the monitoring of hosts (lemon, sweet lime, orange, grapefruit, mandarins, and murraya, also known as fragrant jasmine) in production fields and urban areas to detect the occurrence of the HLB vectors, as well as the taking of samples for diagnosis and analysis in their diagnostic center.
Likewise, they have reinforced external control posts with a greater number of personnel to stop the entry of host plants that do not have the certification of Senasa to the national territory by confiscating and destroying them. In addition, they will implement a new internal control point on the road from the Casitas district that connects with the Panamericana Norte road.
Source: agraria.pe