15th Apr 2015 08:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Orange plantation operator and owner Asian Citrus Holdings Ltd said it has identified the presence of Huanglongbing, or citrus greening disease, at its Xinfeng Plantation in China and said the infection rate means the company's 2015 winter harvest will be severely impacted.
Asian Citrus, which last year saw production from the Hepu Plantation in China crippled by damage caused by Typhoon Rammasun and Typhoon Seagull, said it has identified the presence of the disease at Xinfeng and believes the disease has come from plantations in neighbouring areas, carried by insects.
The disease is a bacterial plant disease not harmful to humans, spread by an insect called the Asian citrus psyllid, a tiny insect that feeds on the leaves and stems of citrus trees. Detecting it can be difficult, Asian Citrus said, as symptoms may not become noticeable for more than a year after the tree has been infected.
Asian Citrus said that based on initial sampling, the infection rate for the Xinfeng Plantation is around 18%. Though the spread of the disease in a plantation can be limited through the use of pesticides against the insects, the disease itself is fatal once trees are infected. The disease destroys the production, appearance and economic value of citrus trees and diseased trees produce bitter, hard, misshapen fruit and die within a few years of being infected, Asian Citrus said.
The company said it is urgently undertaking further field work to investigate the extent of the infection and what can be done to stem the disease spreading. It said it will take some time to quantify the physical and financial losses given the 1.6 million trees at Xinfeng and it will provide a further update as soon as possible.
The Xinfeng plantation provided 56% of Asian Citrus's interim revenue the end of December 2014 after the damage to the Hepu trees.
Shares in Asian Citrus were down 7.5% to 7.75 pence after the news.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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