Be prepared is the suggestion for Western citrus growers in the wake of spreading Asian citrus psyllid numbers and the eventual expected find of Huanglongbing disease (also called citrus greening) vectored by the pysllid.

For several years, the Western citrus industry has geared up for the psyllid through traps and preparing for the eventual spread of the insect from urban ‘backyard’ citrus trees into commercial citrus groves.

Ted Batkin of the California Citrus Research Board suggests that commercial growers have an emergency action plan in place before a psyllid population appears nearby.