The discovery of a single Asian citrus psyllid pest led this week to a county-wide quarantine that is expected to last for at least two years.
San Benito County Agricultural Commissioner Karen Overstreet said that since the discovery of the insect in a lemon tree on April 11, 353 traps have been set around the ares of  Recht and Meridian streets in Hollister. They will be checked on a weekly basis for the next two months. Then, the traps will be checked once a month for the next two years.
“The psyllid itself is not necessarily harmful to the tree, but it is a vector — or carrier — for the huanglongbing disease that when it got into the production citrus in Florida was just devastating to the industry there,” Overstreet said. “There is no cure for the disease and the tree will eventually die” if infected. The psyllid was first detected in Southern California and has since been found in the Central Valley counties of Fresno and Madera. Last year “a couple of finds” of psyllids in Santa Clara County put a quarantine in place there.
The discovery of a single insect was not a surprise, Overstreet indicated, because “the exotic pests generally don’t get here on their own. Perhaps they come here on a vehicle — they are kind of like hijackers.”
Upon discovery of the psyllid in Hollister, a door-to-door inspection of citrus trees in the neighborhood was conducted to check for more pests. None were found at the 324 properties checked, “which is very good news,” Overstreet told the county Board of Supervisors in April. Crews used a “very targeted approach” to treating residential trees, using hand sprayers. A public meeting was held on April 27 to address any concerns the public may have.
This week, California Department of Food and Agriculture imposed the quarantine, which includes 106 square miles ranging from approximately Shore and Fairview roads in the north, Bixby Road in the west, Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area in the south, and Comstock and Santa Ana Valley roads in the east.Â
“It’s better that we don’t have a huge citrus industry here,” Overstreet said, since the treatment required for the pest would “add cost and workload to the producer.” Most crops in San Benito County wouldn’t be affected by the psyllid’s presence, though there is a 50-acre grove of lemons growing near Southside and Cienega roads, Overstreet said.