On The Land
11 August, 2024
Help protect citrus industry
LOCALS who have citrus trees or orange jasmines on their property are being encouraged to be part of a national program aimed at protecting Australia’s citrus industry.
CitrusWatch is a five-year national program that aims to protect the Australian citrus industry through pest surveillance, training, and research.
As part of CitrusWatch, the team is conducting surveillance for several high priority insect pests, and they need volunteers to step up.
One of the exotic pests they are looking for is the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), which can cause the serious disease huánglóngbìng (HLB), also known as citrus greening.
HLB is having a devastating impact on overseas orchards, reducing crop yield, killing trees, and causing significant financial losses for growers.
While the Australian citrus industry is free from many harmful pest species affecting other countries, exotic pests such as ACP can travel to Australia via busy trade or passenger routes by “hitchhiking” with imported freight, food and plant material.
If they evade border biosecurity inspections, the next stop could be residential yards near seaports and airports.
This is where the call for volunteers comes in – CitrusWatch wants people who are willing to place a sticky insect trap in one of their trees. The trap must stay in place for two weeks, then it has to be removed and posted to CitrusWatch for analysis by entomologists in Darwin.
If any insect or pest is detected through these means, it will act as an early warning system for authorities.
The program will provide anyone interested in participating with the sticky traps, instructions and pre-paid envelopes for the return of the traps.
For more information or to register go to www.industry.nt.gov.au/industries/primary-industry/citruswatch
