USDA finds citrus green disease in Nogales
Danyelle Burke North
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture found both an Asian citrus psyllid, an insect, and citrus trees carrying a disease called Citrus greening disease in Nogales, Arizona.
Citrus greening disease is one of the most devastating citrus diseases there is. The disease was found in private properties almost all along one street in January. Citrus greening is a significant concern in Florida because the climate there is tropical.
However, Dr. Glenn Wright, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist for Fruit Crops with the University of Arizona School of Plant Sciences, says just because it was found in Nogales, doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be found in Yuma anytime soon.
“Here in Arizona, we don’t have flush all the time because it’s either a little bit too cold or it’s too hot. In fact, there was a very nice study out of the University of California that suggested that when the insect is subjected to more than six hours of 109°F or more, it doesn’t complete its life cycle. So that in and of itself, as well as the fact that we don’t have flush nice tender growth year round, makes Yuma a pretty inhospitable place for the insect and as a result for the disease,” said Dr. Wright.
A quarantine has been placed in the city of Nogales around the discovery site. To date, the USDA and the Arizona Department of Agriculture have found the disease on 17 trees across 13 different properties.