LAKELAND (FOX 13) - The forecasts are pretty dark. Certain experts say the citrus industry in Florida will be belly up in 20 years if something isn't done. Others don't even give it that much time. No matter which stakeholder you talk to, they agree on one thing. Time is running out to get citrus greening under control. "I have always been an optimist, but it is getting to be more difficult to be optimistic," Ellis Hunt, Jr., of Hunt Brothers Cooperative told FOX 13. Hunt says the industry is in danger of being wiped out, with smaller growers falling by the wayside in the next few years. "I would think it would be half of what it is today in five years if something doesn't develop rapidly to save those infected trees," Hunt said. Greening makes the fruit bitter and fall off the tree. It is caused by a bacteria spread by a bug known as a psyllid. Since greening popped up in the state seven years ago, growers have donated $70 million to research, but no one has come up with a silver bullet yet. Washington is sending another $20 million this way, possibly more if the Farm Bill passes. No one has found a solution, but there was a breakthrough recently. A University of Florida professor figured out the genetic sequence of the greening bacteria. "With having that make up now, that key to the mystery, if you will, there are all kinds of things that researcher can do to try and use that to our advantage," said Mike Sparks, CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, a growers group. http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/24513150/2014/01/21/the-death-knell-for-florida-citrus
can somebody genetically engineer a citrus tree that kills that bacteria? Of course then nobody would eat the fruit...but hey there's always Mexico! I'd say this would be a boon to Calif and Az growers, but they probably can't expand their orchards with all the subdivisions being built on what used to be farmland. The Rio Grande Valley isn't big enough probably to take up the slack.
California, Texas and Arizona have greening as well but are a few years behind in the infection. This is not only a Florida issue but all citrus in the continental United States. We had 900,000 acres and are down to 450,000 in Florida alone. It may be one hell of a land boom with affordable acreage everywhere. http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2014/01/22/we-need-the-scientific-juice-to-save-the-nations-citrus-industry/
so here's the thing... the bacteria will continue to spread if you can't control the bug.. so how do we kill the bug without killing the people eating the fruit.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_plant_louse That's the bug fyi. I have faith in science to find a way to break down the bacteria. The next step will be to stop continued or new infection. Killing the bug seems to be something not addressed. Am I missing something?
Corey it's actually the Asian Citrus psyllid but they all look alike and are microscopic in appearance. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/citrus/acpsyllid.htm No you didn't miss a thing, we are spraying to kill this wasp and have been every thirty days for the last five years at great expense. The result has been we can kill 96% of the population but the population is in the billions. And all it takes is one microscopic wasp to infect. I have been farming over thirty years and have learned you never kill everything, no matter the material. The end result is we can slow it down but not stop it. The bacteria can be killed with antibiotics and part of the $70 million the farmers have ponied up has gone toward that research. But we are still working on the ability to incorporate it into the tree and the FDA is demanding 5-10 years of research on the antibiotics impact on humans and livestock. We honestly don't have ten years to wait on the FDA even if I understand the reason why. One interesting thing to watch in this slow burning disaster is the interaction between researchers who are exceedingly slow as they look for answers and the citrus farmers who are losing millions and are facing bankruptcy if an answer is not found soon.
I've always wondered what those things were. We have them all over Alabama as well. Here's hoping there's a breakthrough. I can understand why the research is slow. 1, there's a funding issue. 2, any time you're dealing with genetic fusion and consumable materials, there's just not room for error with carcinogens and/or poisons.