Meeting the challenge of Eradicating Citrus Canker in Florida—Again

Abstract

USDA-APHIS) are currently engaged in what may be the largest single regulatory agriculture program to eradicate a plant disease ever undertaken in the history of the United States, if not the world. The target is the bacterial disease of citrus known as Asian strain citrus canker, or more generally, citrus canker (CC). The eradication effort, known as the Citrus Canker Eradication Program (CCEP), is an attempt to mitigate the serious consequences this disease would have on the $8.5 billion Florida commercial citrus industry, the privately grown residential citrus in Florida, and also to protect other citrus-producing areas of the United States that might be harmed by this disease, in particular Texas and perhaps wetter areas of California. Although seven southern and central Florida counties have recently been impacted by the disease, the worst of the CC infestation in Florida is unquestionably in the residential areas in Miami-Dade, Broward, and recently Palm Beach counties on the southeastern Atlantic coast. Obstacles to implementing regulatory action in this area are threatening the entire state's citrus crop and are posing historically unprecedented challenges to the plant regulatory agencies. This discussion will: (i) describe the disease and why eradication is considered the best approach for Florida citrus; (ii) outline what has changed about the disease and our overall understanding of it in relation to present society; and (iii) enumerate the main problems encountered in the eradication program and solutions presented to date.