Citriculture Sector Chamber discusses measures to contain detection of HLB disease in RS

Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as Greening, the world's main citrus disease, was the focus of the hybrid meeting of the Citrus Sector Chamber, of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development (Seapdr), on Thursday (10/11). In recent months, citrus producers in Rio Grande do Sul have remained on alert after orchards planted in Santa Catarina were detected with the pest.

During the meeting, the plant health defense departments of the three Southern States presented their contingency, monitoring, inspection and eradication strategies for the disease.

The director of Seapdr's Plant Defense Department, Ricardo Felicetti, released a draft of the HLB Exclusion and Contingency Plan in Rio Grande do Sul which, in the coming days, will be submitted for analysis by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) .

According to Felicetti, no outbreak of Greening has been found in the State so far. That year, 161 orchards in Rio Grande do Sul were monitored by official service inspectors. However, the director recognizes that there is a risk of the plague entering. “With the publication of our contingency plan, the idea is that there will be greater awareness among all involved, producers, traders, nurserymen, especially regarding the transport of seedlings and the entry of fruits with plant residues, to avoid the disease in Rio Grande do Sul”, he points out.

In Santa Catarina, where Greening was detected this year, the health defense is working to contain and eradicate the diagnosed fruit trees. According to the agronomist at the Santa Catarina Integrated Agricultural Development Company (Cidasc), Solano Andreis, the first positive outbreak in the State was confirmed in May, close to the urban area of ​​the municipality of Xanxerê. Since then, another 23 reports have come back positive. One of the suspicions is that the pest began to circulate in the State through infected seedlings. However, Andreis states that, to date, the presence of the psyllid Diaphorina citri, which is the insect vector of the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter spp., the causal agent of Greening, has not been found.

The agricultural defense inspector from the Agricultural Defense Agency of Paraná (Adapar), Paulo Marques, also participated in the chamber meeting. He reported the measures adopted in the state of Paraná, where the disease was detected for the first time in 2007. In that state, the highest incidence of the pest is precisely in the largest citrus producing region, the North and Northwest.

For Marques, it is necessary for States to expand publicity about the disease, its characteristics and impacts. “It causes fruit fall and drastically reduces plant productivity. There are no curative methods. The solution is to eradicate damaged trees so that the pest does not spread further,” he says. In addition to eliminating the plants, Marques recommends monitoring and controlling the vector (the psyllid Diaphorina citri), as well as tightening the supervision of the trade in seedlings.

At the end of the meeting, the group discussed Mapa's public consultation, open until the end of this month, to review the National Prevention and Control Program for the disease called Huanglongbing (HLB), established by Ordinance 317, of 2021. A suggestion that the Seapdr should forward to public consultation the adoption of more effective measures to prevent leaves and branch residues from being present in the interstate transport of fruits. The requirement for authorization for interstate entry of seedlings will also be suggested.