Florida Department of Agriculture

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Citrus Health Response ProgramUpdate

• Richard Gaskalla, Director
• Division of Plant Industry

2
Citrus Canker Program History

• 1995 found again near Miami Intl Airport
• 1995-1998 trees w/in 125 of infected trees
  removed canker still spreading
• 1999 epidemiological study concluded that trees
  w/in 1900 need to be removed for eradication to
  be 97 successful (w/normal weather patterns)
• 2000, 1900 law enacted

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Citrus Canker Program History (contd)

• Nov 2000 Feb 2004 court injunctions hindered
  program 200,000 additional trees infected
• Feb 2004, FL Supreme Court ruled in favor of
  program and full scale eradication efforts resume
• Hurricanes of 2004/2005 spread canker to over
  80,000 acres of commercial citrus

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Citrus Canker Program History (contd)

• Nov/Dec 2005, USDA scientists estimate canker
  could impact up to 220,000 acres of commercial
  citrus due to impact of Hurricane Wilma
• January 2006, USDA deems eradication unfeasible
  and withdraws funding for eradication continue
  to support other program activities

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Citrus Canker Exposure Map
n Commercial finds after 1/01/06
n Commercial finds prior to 1/01/06

• Commercial citrus groves

Once eradication program stopped, canker spread
rapidly in commercial groves
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Huanglongbing/Greening Another Hit to the Citrus
Industry

• Bacterial disease spread by Asian citrus psyllid
  (identified in Florida 1998)
• Greening found August 2005 during cooperative
  survey
• Kills infected trees
• Scientists agree eradication not feasible due to
  latency of disease
• Long-term management logical approach
• 30 counties positive

Misshapen fruit
Asian citrus psyllid
Leaf mottle
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Citrus Health Response Program

• Developed in 2006 w/FDACS,
• USDA and industry to help mitigate impact of
  citrus diseases

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CHRP Goals

• Determine best strategies for ensuring a healthy
  citrus industry into the future
• Work cooperatively with govt agencies, research
  institutions, and industry to build effective
  management program
• Develop secure citrus germplasm and citrus
  nursery program
• Work toward effective disease/disease-vector
  management program for groves
• Provide defendable phytosanitary protocol that
  allows fresh fruit movement to all markets

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CHRP In Action

• Trips to Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, China,
  and Vietnam were taken to determine what others
  are doing to control citrus diseases
• Frequent surveys necessary to determine
  disease/insect prevalence
• Disease/vector control measures must be
  implemented
• UF/IFAS disease/vector control management
  strategies developed and made available

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CHRP In Action

• Group formed to discuss level of regulatory
  oversight necessary at production level
• Still uncertain about what management practices
  will work best
• One disease management strategy does not fit
  all
• Need for ongoing exchange of information and
  educational outreach
• Program elements are proposed to address these
  issues

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CHRP in Action Citrus Nursery Certification
Program

• Location sites must be a minimum of one mile
  from commercial groves
• Structure approved structure must have enclosed
  sides and tops and positive process double-door
  entries
• Sanitation all plant material and soil must be
  removed from equipment before entering/exiting
  nursery
• Decontamination everyone who enters nursery must
  decontaminate with approved products

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CHRP In Action

• Survey Activities
• Multiple Pest Survey
• Export Surveys
• Nursery Environs Survey
• Regulatory Activities
• Compliance agreements (CA) required
• Grower/caretaker CA requires attachment of
  business plan
• Outlines decontamination, survey and disease
  management

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07-08 Fruit Harvest Season Purpose of CA and
Business Plans

• CAs viewed as informational/educational
• Compliance monitoring is instructional, no
  penalties
• FDACS/DPI works closely with UF/IFAS to assist
  growers with business plans
• Examples of business plans are available
• Regional workshops have been held to cover
  important information on disease detection and
  control

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07-08 Fruit Harvest Season Key Priorities

• Completed construction of FDACS-DPI citrus
  budwood-protection facilities in Levy County
  move foundation citrus budwood stock into these
  facilities
• Continued planning of redundant budwood facility
  in Alachua County
• Continue to work closely w/Florida citrus
  industry to transition into insect-protected
  structures
• Inspect and certify citrus nursery stock on
  30-day inspection cycle

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07-08 Fruit Harvest Season Key Priorities

• Conduct training sessions on disease detection
  and management techniques
• Continue to work cooperatively w/UF-IFAS and USDA
  to develop science-based regulations governing
  movement of citrus fruit and nursery stock for
  domestic and intl marketplace
• Provide industry with services that help keep
  canker and greening to an acceptable economic
  threshold

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07-08 Shipping Season Key Priorities

• Growers completed application and submitted to
  FDACS/DPI by August 1
• Applications indicated shipping intention by
  grove and by market for fresh fruit
• FDACS/USDA began grove surveys in July for the
  EU, August 1 for U.S., or as required by the
  receiving market

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07-08 Fresh-Fruit CertificationKey Priorities

• Fresh fruit exiting the packing house must be
  free from visible evidence of canker
• Compliance agreements at packing houses will be
  required and administered by USDA-APHIS
• All shipments to US non-citrus producing states
  must have a limited permit, no shipments are
  allowed to citrus producing states

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07-08 Shipping Residential CitrusKey Priorities

• USDA prohibits the shipment of residential citrus
  outside the state without a limited permit
• Currently nine packing houses will accept
  residential citrus for certification
• Shipping only allowed with limited permit to
  non-citrus producing states

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CHRP Continuing Initiatives

• New Finds
• Abandoned Groves
• Research Efforts
• HLB
• Canker
• Tools for Industry Interactive Maps

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HLB in Polk County Positivefind near citrus
nursery
2 citrus nurseries
7,640 feet
positive HLB find
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Map of Greening/ CankerInfestationsApril 2008
Citrus groves in green Canker infestations in
blue Greening infestations in orange CHRP offices
denoted w/?
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Abandoned/Volunteer Grove Issues

• Scope of problem is wide and diverse
• Varying degrees of pest and disease risks
• Reasons for abandonment
• Commercial groves no longer in production due to
  pest and disease incursions
• Freeze damaged groves
• Changes in land use
• Planted pines with under-story citrus

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Abandoned/Volunteer Grove Issues

• To address all categories/areas would require
  significant funding resources
• Risk-based approach might be more practical
• Incentives to participate are needed
• Legislation and/or rulemaking may be required

For Sale
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A Study of the Detection of HLB in Citrus Psyllids
Research Efforts
Huanglongbing/Greening

• Department has developed a robust assay for
  citrus greening in psyllid vectors
• Over 1,200 samples of psyllid adults and nymphs
  collected from various locations in Florida from
  visually healthy, as well as HBL-symptomatic
  trees, were analyzed to monitor the incidence and
  spread of HLB
• Study suggests that discount garden centers and
  retail nurseries may have played a significant
  role in the widespread distribution of psyllids
  and plants carrying HLB pathogens
• Spread of HLB may be detected one to several
  years before the development of HLB symptoms in
  plants
• 20 of the psyllids sampled have been positive
  for HLB

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Analysis of psyllids may provide early warning
about citrus greening activity
Symptoms found nine months after positive
psyllids were detected
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Research Efforts
Citrus Canker
FDACS/DPIs Disease Transmission Experiment

• Grapefruit infected with canker placed outdoors
  in proximity to healthy citrus seedlings
• Experiment set up in January 2007 and is ongoing
• No sign of disease transmission

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Research Efforts
Citrus Canker
Additional Projects(USDA, IFAS, Intl
Scientists)

• Genomics and resistance
• Citrus breeding and transformation
• Economic analyses
• Survival and control experiments
• Canker symptoms induction, knowledge-based
  resistance, and natural resistance potential of
  citrus

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CHRP Inter-active Maps
www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi

• Features
• General location of
• canker and greening
• Major roads and TRS
• Commercial groves
• No multi-blocks
• DPI CHRP offices

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www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi
8.6 miles

• Addl Inter-Active Map Features
• Allows viewers to plug addresses in to check
  distances from data points

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CHRP Where do we go from here?

• BMPs
• Fruit movement issues
• Grower services
• 08-09 growing season

CHRP Overview
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Citrus Health Response ProgramWorking together
to produce healthy citrus

• Whether called recommendations, regulations or
  guidelines the intention is to help Florida
  citrus survive and thrive
• CHRP is a cooperative effort w/industry

We are here to help
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Citrus Health Response ProgramWorking together
to produce healthy citrus

CHRP Helpline800-282-5153www.doacs.state.fl.us/
pi