Technicians of the Junta Local de Sanidad Vegetal (the local organisation for plant health) are monitoring the citrus crops in the South and the Pacific Northwest of Mexico, according to a local manager. These specialists have the means to tackle the bacteria that causes HLB. Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as Citrus Greening Disease, is a bacterial plant disease that – while not harmful to human health – destroys the production, appearance and economic value of citrus trees and the taste of the fruit.
Alejandro Suárez Beltrán states that precautions have been taken in several regions, like the Valle del Yaqui, and that authorities are taking strategic sanitary measures to prevent the micro-organism from spreading.
To fight the bacteria, spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, it is crucial to inspect plant material imported from infected areas, like Yucatán, Colima, Nayarit en Sinaloa. Besides careful monitoring, introduction of the insect Tamarixia Radiata, an effective ectoparasitoid of the Asian citrus psyllid, is underway. Releasing the wasp, however, has been known to have the opposite effect, like in Florida and Cuba.
Both monitoring and fumigation will continue in the region.
Source: TRIBUNA