The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) secretary AG Kawamura has appointed Nick Hill as chairman and Craig Armstrong as vice chairman of the California Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee.
Mr Hill is a grower of lemons, oranges and mandarins, and a former chair of Citrus Mutual, while Mr Armstrong grows lemons, grapefruit and mandarins, and is also on the Sunkist board of directors.
Mr Kawamura also appointed former Tulare County Farm Bureau director Richard Bennett as the committee's treasurer and secretary.
These appointments confirm the nominations made by the committee at its inaugural meeting on 20 January and the new officers will head the 3 March meeting in Bakersfield.
The committee was created to advise Mr Kawamura and the agricultural industry about efforts to combat serious pests and diseases that threaten the state's citrus crop.
Most recently California's citrus growers have been concerned about the arrival of the Asian citrus psyllid, the tiny pest that spreads the fatal citrus disease huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening disease.
Multiple detections of the pest have been confirmed in Southern California, although the disease has yet to be detected in the state.
