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Lady Freedom Returns

(14,120 posts)
Sat May 18, 2013, 09:06 AM May 2013

Florida's $9 billion orange crop is in trouble.

A story just in time for your morning O.J! One that may/will up the price!

Incurable Disease Threatens US Citrus Crop
By Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor | LiveScience.com

Florida's $9 billion orange crop, the largest in the world after Brazil's, may not survive an incurable disease that threatens to wipe out citrus groves throughout the United States.

The disease, known as "citrus greening" or huanglongbing, is caused by a bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. The bacteria are spread from tree to tree by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid, The New York Times reports.

A tree affected by citrus greening may not show symptoms for years. Eventually, however, the leaves turn yellow and fall, while the tree's fruit fails to mature, falling to the ground prematurely before the tree slowly dies.

"We have got a real big problem," Vic Story, a lifelong Florida citrus grower, told The Times. "It's definitely the biggest threat in my lifetime, and I'm 68. This is a tree killer."


Read more @ http://news.yahoo.com/incurable-disease-threatens-us-citrus-crop-151308978.html

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