Paraná begins second phase of operation against greening

Starting Monday (25), the Paraná Agricultural Defense Agency (Adapar) will carry out the second phase of Operation Big Citros in the cities of Cerro Azul and Doutor Ulysses, in the Ribeira Valley - the main tangerine-producing region of the state. The operation aims to reduce the incidence of greening, the main disease affecting citrus farming worldwide, through guidance to producers, detection and eradication of symptomatic plants.

The first phase of the operation in the Ribeira Valley took place between the end of June and the beginning of July this year - at the beginning of the outbreaks of the disease in the region -, serving as identification and delimitation of the affected properties, with the collection of samples and also the notification of producers to eradicate the diseased plants.

Carolina Garbuio, head of the Citrus Health Division at Adapar, explains that the arrival of HLB in Paraná's groves took growers by surprise, as many were unaware of the disease's symptoms, the psyllid—the insect vector of the disease—or how it is transmitted. According to her, the operation began as an outreach effort, showing everyone what greening is. 

To continue the action in the region, the second phase of Operation Big Citrus will involve 30 Adapar employees. One team will be responsible for advancing inspections at strategic points on properties not inspected in the first phase, and another team of assistants will conduct inspections before returning to notified properties to verify that symptomatic plants have been eradicated and to install yellow sticky traps to monitor the insect vector.

Carolina explains that the orchards' development is currently favorable, but the weather is hampering things. "Now the plants are budding, so the chance of finding the insect vector is a little higher, although the weather makes it a bit more difficult," she says.

The region has approximately 3 citrus growers, but only 700 are registered with Adapar's Plant Health Defense System (SDSV). The head of the agency's Citrus Division says the operation will also serve to register properties not in the system. The goal is to visit all properties in the region.

Despite the operations that are moving several servers to the Ribeira Valley, inspections by the Adapar regional office in Curitiba will continue in the region until the end of the year, verifying notifications and complaints received.

nurseries 

The operation will also focus on the production and sale of open-air nurseries, which is illegal but frequently practiced in the region. According to Carolina, the inspector will visit the property, identify whether the producer is producing their own seedlings or third parties, and notify them so they can comply. 

According to Adapar, the State Government is already developing projects to install nurseries with the help of research and extension from the Paraná Rural Development Institute (IDR-Paraná), so that producers can produce and sell their own seedlings while complying with the necessary sanitary measures.