FAISALABAD: Pakistan, the sixth largest citrus producing country, will be producing “no citrus” and the commodity can become a fancy tale of past after a couple of decades if greening disease continues killing the trees at massive scale.
This was warned by experts at closing ceremony of 8th National Phytopathological Conference arranged by the Department of Plant Pathology University of Agriculture Faisalabad in collaboration with the Pakistan Phytopathological Society here on Tuesday.
They stressed the need to adopt preventive measures by the agricultural scientists as well as government in order to avert the disaster.
UAF Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that citrus greening disease (CGD) was one of the most hazardous viral diseases of citrus in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said extensive studies were needed to investigate the greening disease in Pakistan. He said Pakistan exported about 300,000 metric tons of the kinnow during the year 2010-11.
He said citrus fruit was being cultivated in more than 100 countries of the world and it was 2nd highest horticultural crop after grapes.
Dr. Iqrar maintained that “Kinnow” was a cheap source of vitamin supplement for common man in Pakistan. He said that the UAF had set up a virus-free Citrus Nursery providing certified plants to the farming community to tackle the said disease.
Department Chairman Professor Dr. Nazir Javed said only limited work was available on this disease. Certified citrus nurseries were needed to solve the problem of citrus greening.
He said citrus production could be increased through nurseries run on a scientific and professional basis. He said citrus greening, also called Huanglongbing or yellow dragon disease, was one of the more serious diseases of citrus.
He said this bacterial disease was thought to have originated in China in the early 1900s. The disease was primarily spread by two species of psyllid insects.
There were three strains of the bacteria, an Asian, an African version, and a recently described American strain discovered in Brazil. Citrus plants infected by the citrus greening bacteria may not show symptoms for years following infection.
Professor Dr. Shahbaz Talib Sahi said that citrus plants infected by the citrus greening bacteria may not show symptoms for years following infection. Initial symptoms frequently include the appearance of yellow shoots on a tree.
The most characteristic symptoms of citrus greening were a blotchy leaf mottle and vein yellowing that develop on leaves attached to shoots showing the overall yellow appearance.
