40,000 Hectares of Citrus Crops Threatened by Pests in Mexico
Tamaulipas, Mexico
By Eric Anderson
3.13.13
Around 40,000 hectares of citrus crops are being threatened by seven devastating pests detected in Tamaulipas, Mexico, including the yellow dragon, coffee aphid, and pink mealybug, and the tristeza virus according to a Mexican official.
Humberto Ramírez Vázquez, sub-director of the Federal Vegetable Health (SVF) asserted that at the moment, the Tamaulipas is free of the plagues owing to the prevention actions preformed.
The yellow dragon, which is now affecting citrus in Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa and Yucatán, has caused devastating damages in these areas.
The yellow dragon represents the most serious threat to the 550,000 hectares of citrus is 23 states in Mexico, according to Vázquez.
Referring to the citrus tristeza viru, he said that they had had several positives seven years ago which were eradicated.
In Tamaulipas, the vector for the virus - the coffee aphid - has not been detected, but it has been outheast of the country, it has been detected in the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Plates, and Yucatán.
