Venezuela’s citrus industry has been disappearing rapidly as a result of the impact of the yellow dragon, a disease declared a health emergency by the Institute of Agricultural and Animal Health (Insai), which has been devastating and destroying the plantations due to the lack of actions to combat the disease’s vector agent.
Citrus growers estimate 80% of the citrus plants grown in the country will be lost due to the impact of this pest. According to Rafael Cabrera, director of the Confederation of Associations of Agricultural Producers (Fedeagro), there is no way to plant citrus because there are no certified plants for replacement.
“We resisted this situation, we fought so the legal framework would be published, the issue was made public and no actions were taken. As a result, the Diaphorina continues to multiply. Citrus farming has been disappearing in states such as Yaracuy, Carabobo, and Monagas. There are some specific sites where there is some production and there still is some surface remaining in high areas, such as Trujillo, Tachira, where temperatures are lower,” he stated.
The director of Fedeagro estimated that the industry had managed to process only 12% of the volume it used to process in the years prior to the arrival of the yellow dragon. Back then, they would process 150 million kilos of citrus, now they only process 12 million. “There is no raw material to work with, the few oranges that come to the industry come from farms contaminated with the Candidatus liberibacter bacteria, so the juice is tainted with bitterness and acidity,” he said.
Source: minutaagropecuaria.com