According to information published by La Jornada, the Huanglongbing has spread uncontrollably through the orange plantations of northern Veracruz, Mexico's main citrus-producing region.
According to an estimate by authorities and producer associations, the bacterium could have infected 70% of the 171,000 hectares of orange in the state, causing a historic drop in Veracruz's annual production, which until 2022 stood at 2.5 million tons. In fact, economic losses are already estimated at 16,000 million pesos.
The yellow dragon plague, which has been affecting the orange-growing region of Veracruz for a decade, was first detected in Mexico in 2009 in crops from Yucatan, from where it expanded to the country's main producing areas. The most affected municipalities in the state of Veracruz are Papantla, Cazones, Tihuatlán, Tuxpan, Álamo Temapache, Castillo de Teayo, Chicontepec, and Ixhuatlán de Madero.
Some fight the plague with manure and fertilizer. Others have turned their sick trees into firewood and have chosen to plant bananas, coffee, or lemons, while others have abandoned their lands.
"All orchards are affected"
According to Oved Zúñiga Barra, who was president of the Association of Citrus Growers of Castillo de Teayo, which groups 243 producers, for four years, "The yellow dragon is the worst thing that's happened to us. An orchard that yielded 30 to 35 tons of orange in a good season, now yields 10 or 15 tons when it's very well tended. Many are only getting 6 or 7 tons."
The disease has been in the area for more than a decade, but authorities still don't offer producers enough support or surveillance actions. "Plant Health was supposed to monitor the pest. But they haven't even held a meeting to report about their monitoring," he lamented.
The lack of training is another obstacle to controlling the yellow dragon plague, Oved stated. "We've been talking about the disease for many years. We've known about it all the time, but we as producers haven't organized ourselves; we're also part of the problem."
The impact of HLB has been so serious because it has been combined with other pests, he added. "They all came together: there are fungi and Dhiaphorina on the same tree. And they are already present in all the orchards. All of them are affected."
Source: noticaribe.com.mx