The Australian citrus industry has joined forces with the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP) to check citrus trees in the Sunraysia region for the presence of key biosecurity threats. 

It is the first time that the citrus industry and government have worked together in this way to boost protection against serious exotic diseases that could devastate the industry, Citrus Australia Ltd. said.

Citrus Australia biosecurity manager Stuart Pettigrew said that combining industry and government resources would provide the best chance of protecting the country's citrus orchards from exotic diseases.

"Industry is supplying the traps for the surveillance program along with some technical and logistical support, and DELWP is providing the personnel for the work," Pettigrew said.

"It might seem strange to be checking for diseases we don't have in Australia, but if a serious pest such as the Asian citrus psyllid and the devastating disease it carries, Huanglongbing (HLB) was to make it through border security, early detection would be vital.

"The area would immediately be quarantined so that we could contain the pest and if we were fast enough to find it, we would try to eradicate it from Australia."

Pettigrew and DELWP officers will be placing traps in Sunraysia for four weeks, setting traps in nurseries and orchards, as well as urban areas.

"We're not expecting to find any Asian citrus psyllids, but a nil finding is in itself very useful. It gives us 'evidence of absence' which is becoming increasingly important to our overseas markets. It shows we've been checking for it," Pettigrew said.

A representative of Plant Health Australia, which manages the Citrus Industry Biosecurity Program, said that HLB was a frightening plant disease that is found in many places around the world.

"It's a bacterial infection that affects a range of citrus plants including oranges, grapefruit, lemons and mandarins and it kills infected trees," manager of biosecurity planning and implementation Alison Saunders said.

"There's no known cure. And it's found in many countries including the southern states of the USA, throughout Asia, in the Middle East, as well as countries close to us including Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea.

"It's great to see government and industry stakeholders working together to give us the best chance of early detection."

The trapping program in Sunraysia is a first, with similar work planned for other main citrus producing regions across Australia.

The surveillance work in each area will be combined with training of key personnel, meeting with local government representatives and farm biosecurity activities, including developing farm biosecurity plans with local growers.

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