The Effects of Citrus Canker and Citrus Greening on the Florida Citrus Industry

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For citrus growers in Florida, the future is uncertain. Two bacterial diseases, named citrus canker and citrus greening disease, have devastated countless acres of trees across the state. For an industry that “generates about $8.9 billion a year,” this is no small issue (“Citrus Greening”). The Florida Citrus Grower’s Association would like to import a landrace of orange discovered in China that is resistant to citrus greening disease and test it in Florida to discover its effects on both citrus canker and greening. Although there are advantages to importing a resistant form of citrus, the risks greatly outweigh the potential benefits, and for this reason, the Association should begin to place its efforts towards the many alternative methods of control that are available.

Citrus canker disease has been causing Florida growers issues for almost one hundred years. The bacterium, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri, came to the United States from Southeast Asia in the early 1900’s. In 1933, after much effort and the destruction of thousands of infected trees, citrus canker was eradicated. However, another strain of canker appeared in 1995. Although the state put forth exhaustive efforts, a heavy hurricane season in 2004 spread the disease even further, and as a result citrus canker was declared unable to be eradicated in 2006 and is now considered endemic to Florida (Schumann and D’Arcy 88). Citrus canker is primarily spread by wind and rain, but can also be spread by contaminated humans or equipment and the transport of infected trees. Infected trees can be identified from the raised cankers on their leaves, stems, and fruit. Although the cankers do not generally penetrate the rind of the orange, the disease makes th...

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