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The Florida citrus
industry is at a critical juncture. It is certain the
high number of detections found since last summer’s
hurricanes have overwhelmed the Citrus Canker
Eradication Program (CCEP). Short on money, people and
equipment the CCEP staff is struggling to deal with the
daily detections, much less complete normal surveys.
Until it is determined
how much Citrus Canker is actually in Florida citrus
groves, we are unable to make informed decisions as to
the future of our industry. Two actions are being taken
to speed the detection of Citrus Canker in groves.
First, the state and
industry is implementing a mandatory self-inspection
program. Self inspection information will from this
point forward be required as a part of your annual
compliance agreement. Workshops were held around the
state in the last two weeks, educating more than 1000
growers and grove personnel on how to survey their
groves for Citrus Canker and how to set up their
personalized self-survey plan. Details from that
training session are found on page 3& 4.
Secondly, the scientific
community has proposed a sentinel survey plan for the
CCEP, similar to the residential sentinel surveys
already being completed. While this plan is not
recommended for the long term, it is hoped it will help
the CCEP staff to conduct a rapid sweep of the state to
better detect areas of concern.
In the plan the state
will be divided into 6 mile by 6 miles quadrants. Three
citrus blocks (blocks, not entire plantings) will
be selected based on susceptibility that are disbursed
within the 36 square mile quadrant. CCEP inspectors
will visually survey every tree in the specified blocks.
All
growers should survey their groves for citrus canker.
If you were not able to attend the self-survey
workshops, additional
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workshops will be forth coming.
Individual workshops for your grove personnel can also
be requested. In the mean time, information can be
obtained from your local CCEP office, IFAS personnel, or
the association office. We have also provided key
information from the workshops in this edition of the
Citrus Grower.
(See
pages 3 & 4)
In your surveys,
particular attention should be given to areas in the
grove with the highest probability of receiving inoculum
from the hurricanes. See susceptibility by variety on
page 3. The scientific community has given much thought
to the wind directions associated with each storm. They
recommend attention be given to the following areas of
your grove based on the grove’s location to each storm.
Þ West
of Charley’s Track: Eastern and Northern Portions of
Block.
Þ East
of Charley’s Track: Eastern and Southern Portions of
Block.
Þ North
of Frances & Jeanne, while Tracking West: Northern and
Eastern Portions of Block.
Þ South
of Frances & Jeanne, while Tracking West: Northern and
Western Portions of Block.
Þ South
of Frances & Jeanne, while
Tracking
West Northern Portions
of
Block.
Þ East
of Frances & Jeanne, while Tracking North: Eastern and
Southern Portions of Block.
A group has been
organized by Florida Citrus Mutual to discuss industry
and program options, which includes growers, scientists,
and state/federal program officials. Access and
information from the meetings is currently limited.
However, our hopes are that this varied group of
individuals will determine the proper course of actions
for the betterment of the industry.
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A group has been
organized by Florida Citrus Mutual to discuss industry
and program options, which includes growers, scientists,
and state/federal program officials. Access and
information from the meetings is currently limited.
However, our hopes are that this varied group of
individuals will determine the proper course of actions
for the betterment of the industry.
Below is the current
area quarantines. No quarantine has been set for Hardee
County as of the date of publishing.
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