The Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program hosted informational meetings on April 16-18 throughout California to inform citrus growers, packers, and haulers about what to expect from the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) regulatory response if Huanglongbing (HLB) is found within five miles of a commercial citrus business. The meetings took place in Escondido, Santa Paula, and Exeter. Attendees learned about the regulatory processes that an HLB detection would trigger and had time to speak one-on-one with meeting presenters. The meetings were part of a series of educational meetings, named “The State of HLB in California.”
Each meeting covered the following topics:
- “The current status of ACP and HLB in California” – Sara Khalid Davis, CDFA
- “Overview of how Asian citrus psyllids and HLB spread” – presented by Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell, Entomologist, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
- “What to expect from CDFA if HLB is found in or near a commercial grove” – presented by Nawal Sharma, Environmental Program Manager, CDFA
- Review regulatory response to the following scenarios:
- HLB is detected in your grove
- Grove is within 400 meters of HLB detection
- Grove is within the 5-mile HLB quarantine
- Overview of what type of compliance paperwork growers, packers, haulers will need if in the 5-mile HLB quarantine zone
Click here for CDFA’s Protocol in Response to HLB Document.
Click here for more information for Citrus Growers & Grove Managers.