March 10, 2015

Psyllid Detections in Tulare County Continue to Affect Fresno County

On March 6, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced it was expanding the Asian Citrus Psyllid quarantine area in Fresno County due to two additional detections of the invasive species in Tulare County.  The detections were made along the southern border where Tulare borders Fresno County in unincorporated areas near the city of Orange Cove. 

The approximately 34-squre mile quarantine zone has now been expanded to 84 square miles in Fresno County.  In contrast, all of Tulare County is under quarantine from previous detections. 

The new quarantine area in Fresno County is bordered on the north by E. Kings Canyon Road; on the south by the Fresno County Boundary Line; on the west by S. Alta Avenue; and on the east by an unnamed creek. 

According to a story yesterday in the Visalia Times-Delta, state workers will spray trees within a half mile radius of the finds to try to eliminate any insects in the area.  The fight against the spread of the psyllid to prime citrus producing areas of the Central Valley has even expanded to homeowners.

“In an effort to call attention to the threat, Bayer CropScience and California Citrus Mutual kicked off #CitrusMatters. The campaign will utilize an educational website, www.citrusmatters.us, and the hashtag #CitrusMatters in social media to educate California residents about the dangers of the disease and empower them to take action to help prevent the spread of HLB in California.  The campaign was announced last week at the Citrus Showcase in Visalia,” according to an article published today by the Porterville Recorder.