The Directorate General for Food and Veterinary Medicine (DGAV) has issued an exceptional emergency authorisation for the use of plant protection products to control this pest.
As if the current drought situation in Portugal is not enough for citrus growers in Portugal to contend with, the 'Trioza erytreae' (African psila), which affects citrus, is a complex problem that requires a different means of combat from the usual citrus pests, pointed out according to the Algarve Citrus Growers Cooperative.
Luckily, there are still not many orchards affected. According to Jose de Oliveiral, chairman of the Board of Directors of Cacial – Cooperativa Agrícola de Citricultores do Algarve, so far the pest has been detected in the western Algarve (Aljezur, Vila do Bispo and Monchique), where “there are no significantly large citrus groves”.
The DGAV explained that “following the identification of the first outbreaks of 'Trioza erytreae' in mainland Portugal, in the Porto region, as a result of official surveys carried out under the national prospecting program for the aforementioned pest, measures were taken immediately with a view to its eradication in the national territory”.
However, the insect has been spreading along the coastline, from North to South.
DGAV therefore decided to proceed with the extraordinary authorisation for the use of plant protection products, namely those based on azadirachtin, paraffinic oil, orange oil and pyrethrins, including in organic production of citrus fruits.
According to DGAV, there is a “satisfactory effectiveness” in the use of these products, which are already authorised in Portugal for the control of other insects.
In addition to this African psila infestation, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Cacial warned of another “real problem”, that could be the appearance of the HLB bacteria in the region. This bacterium “leads to a severe loss of production, which in Florida reached 70%”, he warned.
