State leaders address Valley citrus threat

SAN JUAN — The indications are subtle, entomologist Mamoudou Setamou told growers, reporters and government officials as they gathered around a dying tree Tuesday in a San Juan orange grove.

Leaves from the infected trees are a little bit smaller, curve backward rather than inward and begin to show discoloration in the slightly yellowed midrib of the leaf.

It would be difficult for any but a trained eye to distinguish, but the leaves represent a blow to local citrus growers as the first indicators of a potential crisis that could cost the industry millions.

A tree in the grove on Stewart Road, between Moore and El Gato was confirmed Jan. 13 as the first case in Texas of citrus greening, a disease that has wiped out fruit trees in Florida, Louisiana and other states.

The disease does not affect fruit, which remains safe to eat, but causes the trees themselves to wither and die. There is no cure.

There are nine trees here confirmed infected so far, all in the grove on Stewart Road. A quarantine zone has been set up in a five-mile radius from the grove in which no plants can be moved. It includes most of south and central San Juan, Pharr and Alamo, as well as corners of Donna and McAllen.

There are 138 commercial citrus groves across 900 acres in the zone and an unknown number of nurseries and citrus-owning people.

Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples traveled to the Rio Grande Valley to meet with growers, scientists and others Tuesday about the greening discovery.

“The stakes are high, and we’re here to fight hard,” he said.

Citrus is a $140 million industry in Texas accounting for about 2,000 jobs, according to the Department of Agriculture. About 70 percent of Texas citrus comes from Hidalgo County.

“It’s here that we’re going to focus our efforts,” Staples said.

Staples said Texas is relatively well-prepared to handle citrus greening. The disease is spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, an insect that has long been prevalent in the Valley, and agriculturalists have expected the disease to reach the state eventually. Staples appointed a task force in 2008 to work on minimizing its impact.

Those measures consist primarily of spraying to kill the psyllid, which growers are encouraged to do several times each year.

Meanwhile, a group of 32 crew members from several agencies have been going tree to tree within the quarantine zone, testing leaves from trees that appear to be sick, said Setamou, who works with the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center.

“The difficult part is to have boots on the ground, because you can’t just pick a tree,” he said. “It’s very difficult to just walk through the grove and see it.”

Another difficult aspect of controlling the disease is how widely it can spread before anyone realizes a tree is sick. There is a two- to three-year latency period before symptoms appear.

“These trees here just showing symptoms, they were infected probably in ’09,” said John Dagraca, director of the Citrus Center.

Farmers typically rip down infected trees when symptoms appear, because they cannot be saved.

Government leaders called the problem serious.

“We all know how the citrus industry has devastated citrus in Florida and South Carolina and obviously that’s a concern to all of us,” state Sen. Eddie Lucio said Tuesday during a news conference.

Lucio said he would try to tap into state emergency money for psyllid education and eradication in the Valley, calling the crisis just as damaging as and more probable than a hurricane.

Ray Prewett, president of Texas Citrus Mutual, said his office may possibly create a spray service for use by homeowners who might have trees in their yards. There are a variety of pesticides that kill the psyllid, some of which are organic.

Homeowners with citrus plants within the quarantine zone are advised to contact the Texas AgriLife Extension Service to talk to an agent, but it may take some time before all the trees can be tested. Efforts so far have focused on commercial growers, nurseries and flea markets.

Prewett urged homeowners to remain calm and not presume their plants to be sick.

“We want your help, but don’t feel like you have to go out and nuke your tree in your yard,” he said.

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Elizabeth Findell covers Pharr, San Juan, Alamo, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at efindell@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4428.

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TWITTER
Follow Elizabeth Findell on Twitter: @efindell

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UNDER QUARANTINE?
Homeowners with citrus plants within the quarantine zone are advised to contact the Texas AgriLife Extension Service at (956) 383-1026 to talk to an agent.