News Release Distributed 01/04/11
The LSU AgCenter, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry will hold a citrus training and law interpretation workshop at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 12 at the Belle Chasse Auditorium.
Experts from these three agencies will provide information about sweet orange scab disease, according to Alan Vaughn, LSU AgCenter county agent.
New citrus regulations will affect how growers transfer fruit or plants out of Louisiana to surrounding areas. How these regulations are enforced will determine how growers can sell citrus fruit and plants.
The disease has been found in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Experts from USDA and LDAF will be on hand to go over rules recently put into place to reduce the spread of this disease.
Don Ferrin, LSU AgCenter plant pathologist, also will be on hand to show growers how to identify and control this disease.
“Please attend this meeting to learn how these new rules affect the shipping of your product out of state,” Vaughn said. “Also learn how to control this disease to increase your yield through proper management practices.”
For more information about the disease or the meeting, call Vaughn at 504-433-3664.
Johnny Morgan