How This Disease Could Wipe Out Citrus...Unless We Stop It

Citrus trees are threatened by a devastating disease called Huanglongbing. In this episode of Hungry Planet, Niba visits Southern California, where she learns what UC Riverside researchers are doing to stop it. She also speaks with Food Forward, an organization that connects excess food to people who need it in California communities, including in areas hit by HLB. Hungry Planet showcases how scientists and communities are working to keep food on our plates for future generations.

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*additional credit: Production Assistant - Nora Bradford

Hungry Planet is a joint production between Helicase Media LLC and STEMedia Inc. Original Production Funding Provided by National Science Foundation - Grant No. 2120006

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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[mixiekins]

Ah, a year or two ago I was explaining the trickyness of catching huanglongbing to a friend while at a grocer when she commented that clementines have been oddly dry lately, so I went on to explain that's why we had been importing more citrus from places like Chile and Peru lately; the owner was stocking a nearby shelf and asked what I meant. I explained that there's a long period of asymptomatic growth while being infectious, and that's what makes it hard for citrus farmers to weed out, he got oddly defensive as if I was accusing *all* of his produse as being poor quality. It was a very strange exchange, and in hind sight I'm surprised he hadn't heard of it yet given he's in the business. It almost seemed like the exchange hit a sore spot, as if he was defensive thinking that it's yet another pandemic on the way. I hope our generation doesn't get too reactive about infectious diseases, because they affect more than just mammals directly, and of course affect us directly via the ecosystem and food chain, so it's vital we research and take measures to prevent invasive species.

[mascadadelpantion]

The opening line "Imagine saying goodbye to the entire citrus section of the grocery store"

Already had me attention because I could never say good bye to my greatest friends😳

[LadyCynthiana]

Guacamole without lime juice would be the saddest guacamole. I'm glad to see people devoting their time and energy not only to making sure we keep these wonderful species around, but also see organizations devoted to distributing extra food to food insecure people so we all can enjoy it.

[carenspencer-smith]

I grew up in Florida with plenty of trees in the yards of friends and relatives. Now I can’t grow a lemon to ripeness. It is painful to watch.

[pawoo]

01:31 Pomelo is not eaten during the spring festival.
柚子 or 文旦 is consumed during the mid-autumn festival, which is usually in September.
The Spring Festival is celebrated in January or February. No Pomelo during that time.

[ronkirk]

I was raised in So Cal during the 50's and 60's and witnessed the first great assault on the citrus industry when 10's of thousands of acres of the groves were bulldozed to make way for housing developments. We enjoyed the sweet smell of the blossoms when the trees bloomed, but didn't miss the black suffocating haze when the groves were heated with smug pots some nights during the winter.

[dznutz]

Living in Orlando, I fertilize my Meyer Lemon, Key Lime and Kaffir Lime trees with a lower concentration and more often. This helped with the "citrus canker" and has also helped with the "citrus greening". I grow trees in containers which are lower than 5 feet that I prune yearly. I consistently have a high output of juicy fruit and my trees always have healthy dark green shiny leaves.

[debbiehenri]

Monoculture problems yet again - and the annoying habit of 'continuing' to import endless numbers of potentially affected trees around the world, despite knowing there is a problem.

[richardjoyce]

It really is hard to imagine...and scary!

[MBMCincy]

Yikes, and without bees that can also happen! We have really been making a big mess of our world 🌎. Banana or avocado as the next topic.

[damonroberts]

"An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure". It's interesting to learn how science is finding ways to combat Asian Citrus Psyllid and HLB, but this should mostly be a cautionary tale because _neither organism should ever have been allowed to enter the US in the first place._ It was not inevitable, is was result of poor biosecurity practice.

[joshuaharper]

I wonder if the headline here is a bit alarmist? If this disease has been in Asia for a century--and I know for a fact that some citrus is still grown and produced there--then it strikes me as unlikely that all citrus varieties would be driven to extinction. If course, I am in favor of battling the disease and finding ways of mitigating the effects on farmers. It's just that this is not the only PBS Terra episode that has been somewhat alarmist recently.

[yeopazman]

Niba is amazingly perfect!

I know nobody is perfect. She's just amazing!

[eminemma]

Can you cover the Black Fig Fly? It was recently introduced to Southern California and might have a huge effect on the fig industry since we don't have any good ways of controlling it yet (pesticides would have to go into the figs themselves, and it doesn't have any natural predators)

[robbuckhalter]

How about covering Squash. The vine borers have knocked out most of my plants this year

[samanthamellott]

Very interesting! I had no idea this was even an issue!

[pawoo]

00:48 黃龍病
( 黄龙病 )
a Mandarin term for the citrus greening disease

[raykinney]

I'd also like to hear about the science around the sugar content of ripe figs. I have heard that fructose is the main sugar (which is metabolically problematic by inducing uric acid in the liver), but that a rare sugar, allulose, is particularly high 30% in figs, which is unusual in most fruits. Allulose has some different metabolic beneficial effects that suggest it may offset some of the adverse effects of fructose. I want to know more.

[shogun]

Science solved the illness that affected Hawai'ian Papaya, it can solve this too, so long as the idiots who believe in misinformation are ignored.

[baggieknight]

Well I guess we're back to having scurvy again