Mandarin farmers in Java have been struggling with the citrus greening disease, or huanglongbing, that has been spreading rapidly through the region in the last decade.
New research from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) could help farmers control the damage, reported the ABC.
The bacteria is spread by the Asian citrus psyllid insect, and will kill a tree within a few years and make fruit unsellable.
ACIAR’s research shows interspersing citrus with guava trees leads to a dramatic drop in psyllid numbers, helping prevent the spread and reinfestation of citrus greening.
The solution is definitely not an expensive proposition: “We can get quite good income from both citrus and guava,” said Dr Siti Subandaya, who leads the project in Indonesia.
ACIAR is conducting more citrus trials in Vietnam.
The disease has not reached Australia, but has had a devastating impact on some US citrus production areas.
