Florida's Citrus Canker Epidemic: Pieces of a Puzzle
In 1995, Florida declared war against citrus canker, a bacterial disease that causes blemishes to appear on the stems, leaves and fruits of citrus trees. While the citrus fruit with blemishes can not be marketed, the fruit can still be processed as juice.
This was Florida's third and final attempt. The first eradication program ended in 1933, and for 50 years, citrus canker was considered eradicated from Florida.
The second eradication program, began in 1986 and ended in 1994 with headlines that citrus canker had been conquered, and Florida was "canker-free."
Just 21 months later in 1995, citrus canker was discovered in the Sweetwater community, west of Miami International airport.
The plan to eradicate the citrus canker disease involved cutting down healthy trees surrounding infected trees to keep the from spreading. In year 2000, the canker war went into high gear, with a new policy which mandated all healthy trees with a 1900-ft of an infected had to cut down. The new policy was applied to both backyard trees and the groves.
The 1900-ft policy truly defined the program as a massive cutting operation where a single one infected tree would result in the destruction of all citrus trees within a 260 acre area. Early predictions estimated that approximately 750,000 to 1.5 million residential trees would be cut down.
The canker bacteria had won. Citrus canker is still very much present in Florida. Grove owners are now learning to live with citrus canker.