SACRAMENTO, CA - California is investing itself even further into helping the citrus industry combat deadly tree disease, announcing SB 243, a $9.6 million budget to spend in the fight.

“It is an honor to be a co-author and present SB 243 in the Assembly,” said Assembly member Dr. Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno). “Our state’s citrus growers are under a real threat from disease pressures and these funds will help the Department of Food and Agriculture combat destructive pests like the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) and the diseases it spreads.”

The announcement comes in addition to $25 million that has already been allocated for the program specifically to fight citrus greening, or Huanglongbing (HLB), according to The Foothills Sun Gazette.

Governor Jerry Brown authorized the additional investment by signing SB 243 on May 26.

California Citrus Mutual (CCM) told the news source the money will be spent to:

• Require more quarantines
• Expand breeding
• Releases of a parasitic wasp that is the natural enemy of the pest
• Conduct additional surveys of residential citrus trees
• Increase research to find better treatments and possibly a cure

CCM Communications Director Alyssa Houtby said psyllids have been found as far north as Solano and Placer counties, with the total number of infected trees coming to 61, having added 18 to the count in the last year.

“Fortunately, the disease has been contained to residential properties but the pest continues to spread across the state,” Houtby said. “The industry is ramping up to do more of everything to try and prevent the spread of the disease.”

Houtby continued, “Citrus growers are doing an excellent job of preventing the spread of the disease. It’s residential trees in urban areas that we have the most trouble with. It’s not likely that someone with a tree in their backyard is taking all the steps that a farmer would.”

Residential trees are the biggest threat, further complicated by the fact that pesticides cannot be applied in residential areas, the Communication Director explained. Instead, efforts must be made to contain the pest biologically, with such as with natural predators, but are a costly method and less effective than chemicals.

The CPDPP is funded by growers through an assessment on every 40-pound carton of commercial citrus produced, Houtby said, and the assessment generates an average of $18 million. Currently, California’s Central Valley and Tulare County, where the crop is a billion dollar industry, is one of the last HLB-free commercial citrus groves.

California Citrus Mutual