Mediterranean fears for future of citrus crops
Citrus greening disease threatens key producing region after decimating other areas worldwide
Could we soon be forced to do without a glass of orange juice or a slice of grapefruit at breakfast? The answer is unfortunately yes.
After decimating orange groves in Florida and trees in California and Brazil, citrus greening disease now threatens the key producing region of the Mediterranean, according to researchers.
The disease “has spread since the mid-2000s with a phenomenal speed and impact,” said Eric Imbert of CIRAD, an agricultural research centre based in the French city of Montpellier.
The only citrus-producing region as yet unafflicted, “the Mediterranean can’t remain untouched by citrus greening disease,” the researcher added.
Imbert said one species of the insect which spreads the disease has already been found on the Arabian peninsula.
The disease emerged in the first half of the last century in Asia, where it is called yellow dragon disease by the Chinese.
It is spread by small insects called plant lice or psyllids which jump from tree to tree to suck the sap. When they do they introduce the bacteria which ends up blocking the channels along which the sap flows.
As the bacteria chokes off the flow of nutrients the leaves turn yellow, the fruit is deformed, and eventually the tree dies.
The African psyllid, which spreads a less virulent form of the disease, has already been detected in northern Spain and in Portugal, where trees were rapidly uprooted to prevent any further spread.
“While not wanting to panic... if we don’t do anything in terms of prevention, we could end up suffering a major catastrophe, with prices doubling or tripling,” Imbert said.