Feds stop paying pest control bills

Due to the federal shutdown, the federal government is no longer paying for monitoring for the Asian citrus psyllid, an invasive pest that carries a devastating disease. U-T San Diego file photo.

A California citrus association expects to pay $100,000 this month to cover pest control bills the federal government is no longer paying due to the federal shutdown, the groups president said on Tuesday.

California Citrus Mutual agreed to cover the costs to ensure workers continue to monitor traps for the Asian citrus psyllid, an invasive insect that carries the deadly and incurable plant disease called Huanglongbing or HLB, said Joel Nelsen, the citrus groups president.

Nelsen said the federal government has stopped paying the state government to perform the work.

Over the past decade, HLB has caused huge financial losses for citrus growers in Florida. Strong efforts funded by the federal government and the states citrus industry are underway to eradicate the citrus pysllid in Southern California, where it turned up in 2008.

The states first confirmed detection of the HLB disease was made in March 2012 in Hacienda Heights in Los Angeles County.

Nelson said a lapse in trap monitoring could have complicated efforts to combat the pest across the state, including in San Diego County, which has a $70-million a year lemon industry.

If you leave your (pest eradication) program less than whole, you leave your industry vulnerable, he added.

Nelsen said the federal government has agreed to pay back the association once the shutdown ends. He added that the state receives about $10 million annually from the federal government for operations to combat the bug, while the citrus industry contributes about $15 million annually toward the fight.

The Asian citrus psyllid is a brown insect about the size of an aphid. It attacks new citrus leaf growth and causes the new leaf tips to twist or burn back, according to the University of Californias Agriculture and Natural Resources website.

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Feds stop paying pest control bills