Top CDFA Expert Discussing Citrus Greening Disease HLB Wed 9-21-22 7p!

The Speaker is THE CDFA supervisor in charge of handling the HLB Citrus disease and the
quarantine covering many parts of California.
His jurisdiction is ALL of California .
Basically - TOP Person on this.

Sept 21st Wednesday Sept 21st 7 pm ZOOM meeting
Speaker Keith Okasaki CDFA Senior Environmental Scientist (Supervisor)
Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Division
California Department of Food & Agriculture
Statewide citrus pest quarantine supervisor...
He is the TOP person in California on the citrus quarantine, not an assistant.
The topic will be
Asian Citrus Psyllid and Huanglongbing (Citrus Greening) in California, Facts and Myths
You can submit questions you want covered when registering (then they WILL be submitted to the speaker )
ONLY THE FIRST 100 people will be allowed to attend, due to our ZOOM account limit.
South OC chapter members were invited FIRST
Now it is open to the public to attend
To sign up, fill out the form at:
https://forms.gle/K8oEgJgzbP7f...
We will email ZOOM link to people signed up prior to the meeting.
The meeting will be recorded for those unable to attend, then at a later date, it will be posted to the South OC CRFG YouTube account.

South OC CRFG chapter
https://southoccrfg.org/
Any Questions for our chapter contact us through our website at
https://southoccrfg.org/Contac...
we find that emails get buried, our contact us page does not also, we do not accept solicitations of any kind.
If you are not familiar with HLB,
content below explaining it is from https://cisr.ucr.edu/invasive-...

Huanglongbing, (HLB, Citrus Greening) Candidatus Liberibacter africanus, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and Candidatus Liberibacter americanus
The Situation:
Citrus huanglongbing (HLB), previously called citrus greening disease, is one of the most destructive diseases of citrus worldwide. Originally thought to be caused by a virus, it is now known to be caused by unculturable phloem-limited bacteria. There are three forms of greening that have been described. The African form produces symptoms only under cool conditions and is transmitted by the African citrus psyllid Trioza erytreae, while the Asian form prefers warmer conditions and is transmitted by the psyllid. The HLB bacteria can infect most citrus cultivars, species and hybrids and even some citrus relatives. Leaves of newly infected trees develop a blotchy mottle appearance. On chronically infected trees, the leaves are small and exhibit asymmetrical blotchy mottling (in contrast to Zinc deficiency that causes symmetrical blotching). Fruit from HLB-infected trees are small, lopsided, poorly colored, and contain aborted seeds. The juice from affected fruit is low in soluble solids, high in acids and abnormally bitter. The fruit retains its green color at the navel end when mature, which is the reason for the common name "citrus greening disease." This fruit is of no value because of poor size and quality. There is no cure for the disease and rapid tree removal is critical for prevention of spread...
Economic Impact:
HLB is one of the most devastating diseases of citrus and since its discovery in Florida in 2005, citrus acreage in that state has declined significantly. If the disease were to establish in California, the nursery industry would be required to move all of their production under screenhouses, pesticide treatments for the vector would be instituted resulting in greatly increased pesticide costs (3-6 treatments per year) and indirect costs due to pesticide-induced disruption of integrated pest management programs for other citrus pests. A costly eradication program would need to be instituted to remove infected trees in order to protect the citrus industry.
Distribution of HLB: In April 2012, after about a week of testing, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) removed a pumelo tree with a lemon graft from Hacienda Heights in
Los Angeles County after the tree and an Asian citrus psyllid found on the tree both tested positive for Huanglongbing.
In 2005, HLB was also found in Florida and it is now known to occur in Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Cuba, Belze and Eastern Mexico. Worldwide, HLB is also present in China, eastern and southern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Mauritius, Reunion, the Saudi Arabian peninsula, and southeast Asia.
Research: Research is focusing on characterization of the bacteria, development of detection methods, and control of the disease and the psyllid.
To date, control of the disease is based on planting HLB-free citrus germplasm, eradication of infected citrus plants, and control of the vector with systemic insecticides. Countries with HLB learn to manage the disease so that they can still produce citrus. In California, the best strategy
is to keep this disease out. This goal is supported by both federal and state quarantine regulations and the University of California's Citrus Clonal Protection Program, which provides a mechanism for the safe introduction of citrus germplasm into California.