Texas Citrus Harvest Reports Results of a Challenging Season
Rio Grande Valley, TX-
By ANUK Staff
01/09/13
The Texas citrus harvest is faring well despite an Asian citrus psyllid quarantine and another year of drought conditions across South Texas. As the harvest continues at a great pace across the Rio Grande Valley, the citrus is revealing positive early reports of a good harvest with a keen eye on Texas grapefruit.
It's been a quite a year for Texas citrus due to concerns over HLB, the citrus disease known commonly as citrus greening disease, according to Rio Grande Valley citrus producers. The disease was confirmed in the Valley in January of last year, for the first time in the history of Texas.
The quick response program and responsible participation by Valley growers helped to quickly get a handle on the situation and close the door of opportunity for the spread of the disease noted in groves across fruit-rich South Texas, noted officials at the Texas Department of Agriculture.
As reported by the Southwest Farm Press, Ray Prewett, President of Texas Citrus Mutual, said that last year most researchers and growers were not surprised when the disease spread to the Texas Valley. South Texas citrus growers had been involved in a comprehensive management program in recent years to control Asian psyllid populations in an effort to inhibit the possibilities for infection.
Nearly 85 percent of commercial groves participated in the psyllid control program prior to confirmation of the disease, Prewett reported in the publication.
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