NUEVA VIZCAYA

Deadly viral disease threatens to wipe out Vizcaya citrus farms

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – Oceana Gold (Philippines) Inc. has warned spread of a citrus disease in this province which is threatening farm productivity in the country’s citrus capital.

The spread of the disease, called the “huang long bing,” is slowly eating up revenue of citrus farms in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya.

The disease can destroy harvestable fruits by more than 50 percent.

“Huang long bing,” also called the citrus greening disease, is one of the most destructive citrus diseases. It is manifested by the yellowing of the leaf which then results in poor yield.

Almost all of the citrus areas in Kasibu covering more than 1,200 hectares are affected by the disease at different levels of severity, authorities said.

Oceana Gold has been planning to expand its technology-demonstration farms in Nueva Vizcaya (where its mining project is located) as part of its Social Development and Management Program (SDMP).

The spread of the disease may stop the company from planting citrus.

“We’re planning to go on a community-wide farming program, but when I visited our site, I found out citrus has fungal infection. They said it’s so prevalent in the province that agriculturists discouraged us from doing it,” said Lucy Esconde, OceanaGold environment manager.

Dr. Elena Sana, assistant professor at the Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU), said citrus farms in the province are planning to expand citrus planting up to 2,000 hectares. But the eradication of the disease has to be given priority.

Citrus Tristeza Virus (CTV), carried by an aphid species, mainly the black citrus aphid, is also infecting the province’s citrus farms.

CTV, also a highly destructive pet, caused in 1981 the death of 50 million citrus trees worldwide.

The Nueva Vizcaya Citrus task Force has been formed to implement a plan to control the disease, but the task force needs financing to implement a disease eradication plan.

“We also need fund for the task force. We need to have a legal entity to be able to raise fund for it,” said Sana .

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has donated disease detection laboratories for the task force which will be operational by year end. The task force was formed by the NVSU, the Kasibu municipality, and the Malabing Valley Multi-purpose Cooperative and the Kasibu Citrus farmers’ cooperative.

Oceana Gold is also collaborating with the Department of Agriculture (DA), and the provincial agricultural office in Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino on the eradication of citrus diseases. -- SG