The Ministry of Agriculture has stepped up its efforts to reduce the population of the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) that transmits the citrus greening, and is posing a serious threat to our nation’s citrus, including those grown in home gardens and on farms.
The Ministry recently imported 20,000 Tamarixia radiata wasps for use in a biological program aimed at suppressing the population of the psyllid.
The first release of the wasps was done last Friday, July 10th.
According to Dr. Raffique Bailey of the Research and Development in the Ministry of Agriculture, St Vincent has already lost a lot of citrus due to this disease. Hence they are trying to suppress the population of the Psyllid by introducing these new wasps.
Dr. Bailey noted that there will be no environmental impact by releasing this wasp and added that farmers stand to benefit greatly from this initiative in the long run.
