Psyllid population is above average in winter

The monitoring of the psyllid population – an insect that transmits HLB (greening) – throughout the citrus park carried out by Fundecitrus through the Phytosanitary Alert system – Psyllid showed a significant increase in autumn and winter, a period in which, normally, the population is very low .

Due to this growth, the system is issuing a joint control alert for the regions of Araraquara, Bebedouro, Casa Branca, Frutal and Lins (SP) from September 14th to 21st and for the regions of Avaré and Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo from the 19th. on September 26th. This regional spraying aims to reduce the psyllid population before the beginning of spring, a time when, traditionally, the insect population peaks, due to the large budding cycle during the period.

The atypical increase is probably caused by above-normal rainfall in May and June and in August. “Without a prolonged period of water stress, the plants continued to vegetate and the psyllid population remained high,” says researcher Renato Beozzo Bassanezi.

In all regions of the Phytosanitary Alert, the average rate of psyllids per sticky trap between the first half of April and the second half of August was high, particularly in the Bebedouro region, where the increase was 555% compared to the same period of the year past. In the regions of Casa Branca and Araraquara, where water stress is normally greater in autumn and winter, the psyllid population this year was 80% higher than in 2015. In the regions of Avaré and Santa Cruz, there was also an increase, but to a lesser extent : 13% and 27% respectively.

Psyllid control in orchards is the key point in HLB control. As it is a vector, just one insect found is enough to determine the need for spraying.

Joint spraying between neighbors in an area is part of regional HLB management and prevents the psyllid from migrating from one property to another at the time of applications. This guarantees a longer period of control of the insect population, resulting in less need for spraying.

The Phytosanitary Alert program is a free service offered by Fundecitrus to citrus growers, to monitor the psyllid population. The system covers an area of ​​230 thousand hectares (55% of the citrus park), monitoring 105 million plants, on around a thousand properties, in more than 140 municipalities in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. To include your property in the system, citrus growers must access the link:http://www.fundecitrus.com.br/alerta-fitossanitario . More information can be obtained by calling 0800 11 2155.

The Phytosanitary Alert has the support of citrus grower-friendly companies Bayer CropScience, FMC, Koppert and Syngenta.