AGRICULTURE: Disease-carrying bug flourishing; growers placed on "high alert"

 By PAT MAIO pmaio@nctimes.com

An insect once thought to be in decline in San Diego and Riverside counties has begun an alarming comeback and threatens the area's $219 million citrus industry.

The head of a state research board says the pest has multiplied extensively in Riverside County ---- particularly in Hemet and Perris ---- with growers in the Temecula area now placed on "high alert" for the Asian citrus psyllid, which typically carries a disease that is deadly to citrus trees. Migration of the bug is headed south into North County.

While the bug has appeared throughout Southern California since 2009, the disease has been found in only one place in California. In March, a lemon tree was found to be infected in a Hacienda Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles County.

The Asian citrus psyllid is a tiny, aphidlike insect that can carry a devastating plant disease called huanglongbing, also known as citrus greening disease. The disease destroys the taste of citrus fruit and juice, along with the production, appearance and value of citrus trees. 

While the bug was first detected back in 2009 in cities along the Mexican border in San Diego County ---- as well as Valley Center ---- the psyllid was detected for the first time ever in Fallbrook on June 11. The bug hadn't been spotted in Valley Center since 2009, but was detected again July 16 in a trap there, state officials said.

A meeting with state agricultural officials and growers and the public has been scheduled for Aug. 7 at the Valley Center Public Library to discuss treatment of infected trees and outline the extent of the bug's migratory movement.

"There has been a considerable increase in psyllids. We are starting to see the population of (Asian) citrus psyllids move south out of Riverside County. They are hitchhiking," said Ted Batkin, president of the Visalia-based California Citrus Research Board. "The threat to North County is the movement from Riverside and not from the border. We are tracking up to hundreds of psyllids, so statistically this means the population is into the thousands."

Batkin noted that the bug had been on the decline since first spotted along the Mexican border a few years ago, but that hundreds of traps in groves have caught enough of the bugs during the spring and summer breeding season to begin sounding alarm bells.

"There has been a considerable increase," said Batkin in an interview Tuesday before meeting with Riverside citrus growers at the board's research laboratory in Riverside. "Ultimately, the psyllids bring the bacterium with them. The growers in Fallbrook and Pauma Valley area have their eyebrows raised. They are on high alert."

Once a citrus tree becomes infected with the disease, there is no cure and the tree will eventually die ---- in three or four years for a 30-year-old tree or six months for a young one. 

Growers are jittery over this discovery because the disease carried by the psyllid wreaked havoc in Florida and Brazil, and could do the same in California's $2 billion citrus industry.

"I think if you look at the science of the creature, and the infection that it's carrying, it's a reasonable conclusion that it could wipe out the industry," said Charley Wolk, a Fallbrook-based manager of avocados and citrus groves in the region. "When you find multiple findings of psyllids, that's not crying wolf. Yeah, I'm concerned, but what can you do? I can't go out with a fly swatter and kill psyllids."

Lisa Leondis, head of San Diego County's department of Agriculture, Weights & Measures, said the mere discovery of the psyllids locally means that quarantines for the areas where the bugs were found ---- including Fallbrook and Valley Center ---- will be extended for another two years. Quarantines already cover most of Riverside and San Diego counties, she said.

A quarantine means that citrus fruit can't be moved out of the county, unless it is clipped of stems, leaves and twigs, according to Leondis. Citrus trees grown by a certified nursery, though, can be shipped out, she said. 

"It's not a pretty picture," said Leondis, who is cautiously optimistic that the region will avoid the fate of Florida and Brazil. "We are in this for the long haul. We have to treat the trees."

The citrus psyllid bores into new leaves sprouting on the tips of branches and lays eggs. The pest generates a white, gooey substance in the area where the psyllids have infected the tree. The psyllid looks like a tiny thorn protruding from the underside of a leaf at about a 45-degree angle.

An Asian citrus psyllid was last found in North San Diego County in a tangelo tree in Valley Center in late 2009. San Diego's citrus industry, including fresh fruit and trees, was valued at $78 million in 2011 in San Diego County, and $140.5 million in Riverside County, according to the latest figures provided by the counties.

"The citrus industry is part of California's heritage," said Steve Lyle, a spokesman with the state's Department of Food and Agriculture in Sacramento.

At the Valley Center meeting on Aug. 7, Lyle said state agricultural officials will explain treatment programs to help kill the psyllids, including spraying the trees with pesticides, and treating the soil so that tree roots absorb the pesticide and attack the bugs as they bore into the leaves.

"We won't eradicate the psyllid, but we are looking to contain it so that when the disease arrives, we will be able to minimize the damage," Lyle said.

Original Article Here

Peach Tree Care: Common Peach Diseases

Peach tree care includes planting your trees where they will do best, such as in an orchard or large back yard. It also includes making sure your trees get enough water and sunshine and chances at pollination. However, peach tree care also encompasses protecting your trees from peach tree diseases.

Types of peach tree diseases

There are several peach diseases that can attack your tree. A couple of the most common peach tree diseases are brown rot and peach scab. Both of these diseases can cause peach tree die back, or at the very least will damage the fruit, which is something you do not want to deal with.

The first peach tree disease mentioned is brown rot. Brown rot causes a decay of stone fruits including peaches. As far as a peach tree disease goes, brown rot causes the fruit to turn soft and brown. It starts out as a small brown spot and expands to destroy the whole piece of fruit. Brown rot also causes blight to the blossoms and twigs on the trees in the springtime, so as peach tree diseases go, this one truly is a big one.

Rotted fruits can either stay on the tree to become mummies or fall to the ground, attracting insects and bees that will also eat the tree. These rotted fruit cause a place for the brown rot to start. Blighted twigs and leaves should be removed once the final fruit harvest has happened so that the tree can heal.

Clean up any fallen fruit and twigs to prevent the brown rot from spreading to other parts of the tree. Just by allowing these things to just lay around under the tree will spread this disease quickly.

Another peach disease that causes problems to peaches is peach scab. This one is a fungus that causes spots on the fruit. These spots can make the skin harder to remove when canning the fruit. It also causes abnormal fruit growth.

The best way to combat this particular peach disease is to prune the tree correctly. The best way to do this is to provide ample space within the tree when pruning to allow for penetration of pesticides and water. It also allows more space for aeration of the tree which means there is a less likely chance of fungus growing.

If you are growing peach trees, know that peach tree diseases are preventable and also controllable once caught. You just have to pay attention to any signs and symptoms of disease and treat the peach tree disease appropriately and promptly.

Original Article Here

Scab - Apple Orchards Diseases

By Sarbjit Singh Reen

Scab is not the only problem in Kashmir and Jammu apple orchards, the farmers in Kashmir know well the means and ways to tackle scab. There are other diseases like Mosaic, cankers root rots which have now become the main headache for growers and extension workers. For the last so many years we have spraying chemicals to control scab and still we are doing so. Every year farmers report that this chemical is not now effective as it quality is not good now but nobody studies the exact cause of it. Fungicide resistance is an important subject to talk about in such circumstances, but this all can become possible with the excellent support of research institutes. What we require is
1 efficacy charts of different fungicides against different diseases of apple.
2. Tank mixing of different fungicides, site selective with broad spectrum so as to minimize resistance development.
3. proper identification and proper time of the emergence of different pests in different locations of kashmir so that timely pest sampling can be done and percent damage can be calculated and proper control measures can be started well in time.
4. most of the Kasmir areas fall in temperate climate but areas of lower altitude which exists in Kupwara(Karnah and teetwal) there such varieties of apple ie red delicious are not successful. This area I think falls in mid temperate zone and is between 900 to 1450 meters here both sub tropical plants and temperate plants can survive but good yields are not possible from both of them. Calculation of chill hours in these areas is must and accordingly varieties suitable for these areas should be identified.
5 canker and its management is essential and for that dormant sprays of copper oxycholoride should be included in spray programmes.
6. our research institutes should now gear up and come up with some great work that can really help the farmer community.

Warm spring brings more insects to Prairies

By: Terryn Shiells

A warm spring across the Prairies is bringing larger insect populations to crop-growing regions this season.

Manitoba and Alberta canola crops are seeing increasing populations of flea beetles this spring. The insects feed on multiple parts of the plant and can be very damaging for canola in its early development stages. Both provinces have already received reports of damage from the insects this year.

"The problem with the flea beetles in canola is some individuals seeded quite early this year and the seeds they put in the ground have a seed treatment that's supposed to protect the plant from flea beetles. But, that seed treatment only lasts for about a month," said John Gavloski, entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives at Carman.

Scott Hartley, entomologist with Saskatchewan Agriculture in Regina, said the province hasn't seen any flea beetles yet because seeding in many areas was delayed due to wet fields and crops aren't developed enough to be affected by the insects.

Leafhoppers and aphids overwintered in Minnesota because of mild temperatures in the U.S. Midwest. They're now blowing into Manitoba and Saskatchewan but entomologists from both provinces said it's not a big concern for their crops.

"There were some worries that there were aster leafhoppers, which are the ones that are responsible for disease, but so far it hasn't been affecting fields," Hartley said.

Saskatchewan and Alberta are worried about pea leaf weevil right now. The insect only feeds on the growing points and leaves of pea crops but can cause significant damage.

"They've been moving in to the fields because it's been above their flight threshold temperatures," said Scott Meers, insect management specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development at Brooks.

Cutworms have been present in scattered areas across the Prairies this season, but Meers said the pest numbers are way down compared to this time last year.

Some cutworm species feed on canola stems while others feed on the leaves, but they can all cause significant damage to plants.

Hartley recommends farmers scout fields often for all insects in order to protect their crops.

"It's not one of those things that you can just walk through the fields and observe. You might have to get down and actually look at undersides of leaves, and at young stems for flea beetles. Farmers also need to watch for feeding notches from pea leaf weevil," he said.

Higher populations of diamondback moths, which target canola and mustard crops, were also detected across the Prairies this spring and entomologists will be monitoring their activity throughout the season.

Diamondbacks have the potential to cause a lot of damage because they feed on multiple parts of plants.

Hartley said bertha armyworms, whose larvae feed on the undersides of leaves, are also expected to be an issue for canola and mustard crops later in the growing season.

Original Article Here

Bill seeks secrecy for agriculture-related disease outbreak

POSTMEDIA AND TIMES COLONIST

A proposed law, which could be approved by month’s end, bans in certain circumstances public disclosure of the location of an agriculture-related disease outbreak.

Critics say the Animal Health Act could result in a delay in public warning of a disease outbreak at a farm to protect the financial interests of a business or industry.

Agriculture Ministry employees, animal-health inspectors and laboratory employees are specifically barred from prematurely disclosing information about farm-disease outbreaks.

It’s information that doesn’t need to be protected and should be accessible to the public, said Lana Popham, NDP MLA for Saanich South.

The argument for the provision is that information about a disease outbreak becoming public could potentially damage a business, Popham said.

“My argument against that is it’s our food system and I believe consumers have the right to know what’s going on.”

Popham said it’s not different from how local health authorities deal with restaurants inspections. “They post those publicly on a website with the name of the business and whether or not the health inspection passed or failed. I think that’s a very similar circumstance and I’m not sure why this is any different.”

In a letter to provincial Agriculture Minister Don McRae, B.C. information and privacy commissioner Elizabeth Denham asked that a section overriding the Freedom of Information and Protect of Privacy Act be removed.

Denham said it’s extremely rare for a law to override freedom of information legislation.

The Animal Health Act removes “the public’s right to access various records regarding animal testing, including actions and reports relating to animal-disease management,” Denham wrote.

The Animal Health Act lays out a punishment regime with penalties of up to $75,000 in fines and two years in prison.

The offence of failing to keep information confidential falls among the violations drawing the highest penalties.

In defending the proposed legislation, the Agriculture Ministry has said that it will help to prevent the publicizing of inaccurate information, and encourage farmers to report a disease outbreak to the ministry instead of trying to hide it.

The provincial health officer would retain the authority to publicly report about animal diseases in a general area.

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Technology revolutionizes agriculture in Cameroon

Courtesy of World Agroforestry Centre 

By Comfort Mussa

BAMENDA, CAMEROON – Agweig Pauline, 28, is a budding poultry farmer in Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s Northwest region. She says that unlike other young people her age, she has always had a passion for agriculture and has decided to pursue it in a unique way.

“Growing up, I had a passion for agriculture,” she says. “However, I didn’t want to operate like the other farmers in my community."

Pauline started her poultry farm with no formal training. Instead, she relies on Internet research to find information on how to sustain her farm.

Pauline says that too often, she hears farmers complain of poor harvests and of poultry farmers losing all their stock to diseases. She adds that society regards farming as a dirty job for illiterate people.

”I am a farmer, and I don’t want to be a reflection of this poor image people have of farmers,” says Pauline, who was trained as a journalist and still works as a copy editor for a local magazine. “That’s why, before venturing into it, I got all the information I needed. And I constantly update my knowledge by learning online.”

She says she saved 200,000 francs ($400 USD) and then started her own farm. She named it Cielo Farm, which means Heaven Farm, to reflect her desire to practice agriculture without the normal constraints that her peers face.

“Thus far, my farm is doing great,” says Pauline, nodding with a confident smile. “And other farmers even come to me for advice.”

A growing number of farmers in Cameroon are employing information and communication technology to revolutionize their work. Technology experts say that advancements in technology offer farmers an array of options to improve their businesses. Still, challenges exist, such as a lack of access to technology, ability to use it and awareness of how it to apply it to agribusiness.

“Growth in Africa begins with agriculture,” Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank, said last weekend during a visit to Washington, D.C.

More than 2.6 billion people around the world directly depend on agriculture for their livelihood, according to SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, an international organization that promotes sustainable development to combat poverty. Global food demand is also expected to rise by 50 percent during the next 20 years.

“But the productive potential of many smallholders and pastoralists remains untapped,” according to the organization.

In Cameroon, the agricultural sector employs more than 60 percent of the active population and accounts for more than 40 percent of the gross domestic product, according to a document from the prime minister’s office.

Information and communication technology is emerging as an attractive way to improve this dominant industry in Cameroon.

Tantoh Dieudonne Nforba, 33, is a farmer in Nkambé, a small city in the Northwest region. He says that he employs various forms of information and communication technology on the job.

With his mobile phone, Nforba exchanges strategic information with customers, other farmers, agricultural authorities, government figures and extension workers – field workers who serve as a link between the agricultural experts and researchers who develop new technologies and the farmers who implement them. He also participates in talk shows on the radio and TV to disseminate information about his produce and services.

The Internet quickens communication.

“Email allows me to communicate quickly with people all over the world,” he says. “For example, I interact with stakeholders around the world exclusively through email.”

Email also enables him to contact volunteers.

Original Article Here