Government, farmers move to contain citrus infestation

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – Agriculture officials sought to downplay the severity of the citrus infestation in a remote mountain town here, while at the same time locking arms with the local government units and farmers in the area to prevent its spread.

The provincial agriculturist’s office yesterday said the other day that measures have  been undertaken to contain the so-called Huang Long Bing infestation of citrus trees in the Malabing Valley and other parts of Kasibu town here where majority of the citrus farms in the province are located.

Perlita Manuel, agriculturist-in-charge of citrus here, said that representatives from the Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office based in Tuguegarao City had earlier met representatives of local citrus farmers, local agriculture officials and other concerned agencies and groups represented in the provincial citrus task force based in Kasibu town to map strategies for saving the citrus industry in the province, which is considered to be Cagayan Valley’s citrus capital.

“What was discussed was  the proper management of citrus to maintain its marketability,” she said.

As of now, Manuel said, citrus farmers in the area are continually identifying infected trees and immediately cutting them down.

“This is sufficient to prevent the disease. Anyway, citrus are not like bananas that when one gets infested with bunchy top you have to cut down all the banana plants nearby,” she said.

Manuel said most of the citrus plants affected by Huang Long Bing (also known as citrus greening disease) in Kasibu are those planted to Satsuma oranges, mandarin oranges, Ponkan oranges and pomelo. “But of course not all citrus trees belonging to these varieties were affected,” she added.

Earlier, officers of the Malabing Valley Multi-Purpose Cooperative, which groups most of the province’s citrus farmers, had moved for ways to control the disease, which is said to be widespread worldwide.