Brazil: Public consultation updates National Prevention and Control Program for HLB in citrus

The Goiana Agricultural Defense Agency (Agrodefesa) stated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa) has submitted for public consultation the proposal for an Ordinance that institutes the National Program for Prevention and Control of the disease called Huanglongbing (HLB) - PNCHLB. 

The deadline for consultation and presentation of technically substantiated suggestions is 60 days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette of the Union, on July 19, 2024 (Ordinance SDA/Mapa No. 1,148/2024).

The PNCHLB aims to strengthen the agricultural production system of hosts of the pests Candidatus Liberibacter americanus and Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, establishing the criteria and procedures for the prevention, containment and control of HLB.

Among the changes suggested in the draft law are new responsibilities for the State Agency for Plant Health Defense (OEDSV) of the Federation Unit, which, in the case of Goiás, is Agrodefesa. According to the proposal, the Agency will be responsible, for example, for additional regulation on the PNCHLB, to comply with federal legislation, establish operational procedures for the execution of the program, at the state level, and coordinate the involvement of local authorities in activities related to the PNCHLB, delegating responsibilities, among other actions.

Other changes that appear in the new proposal include actions related to garden myrtle plants (Murraya paniculata), which are also subject to infection by HLB and, consequently, contaminate psyllids, generating new vectors of the disease. The exclusion of age limitations for orchards to be destroyed after contamination (the PNCHLB in force requires the elimination of citrus orchards up to the eighth year of planting, allowing producers to destroy orchards more than nine years old).

″It is very important that our rural producers and institutions linked to agriculture in the State also participate with suggestions for improvement so that we can improve our actions to combat and prevent HLB,″ reiterated Agrodefesa President, José Ricardo Caixeta Ramos.

The project to be evaluated is available on the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock website at: https://www.gov.br/agricultura/pt-br/ , link Access to Information, menu Social Participation, submenu Public Consultations. Suggestions should be sent via the Regulatory Acts Monitoring System (Sisman), of the Secretariat of Agricultural Defense, available at https://sistemasweb.agricultura.gov.br/sisman/ (login and password required for access).

The criteria for accepting suggestions for changes, inclusions or exclusions in the texts will consider compliance with legislation, relevance and the positive impact of the contribution to the effectiveness of the Official Pest Prevention and Control Program in question.

″We believe that the proposed adjustments will strengthen the actions that have already been developed in Goiás and other states. HLB is extremely harmful to commercial citrus crops worldwide and expanding the work is essential at this time when the disease is already present in a large part of the country,″ added the Plant Health Manager at Agrodefesa, Daniela Rézio.

HLB, also known as citrus greening, is the worst citrus disease because it has no treatment and spreads quickly. The disease was detected in Brazil in 2004 and has caused major losses in states such as São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Paraná. It is caused by the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter spp., transmitted by the psyllid Diaphorina citri, an insect with a grayish-white coloration and dark spots on its wings. The main symptoms of HLB are mottled and yellowed leaves, defoliation, drying and death of branches. The fruits are deformed, small and asymmetrical, the seeds are aborted, small and malformed and dark in color.