Funding Agency: U of Florida, USDA-NIFA SCRI
WSU Investigators: Lav Khot and Gwen Hoheisel
There are currently no means of treating huanglongbin (HLB) or greening infected citrus trees and immediate action is needed to manage HLB-infected orchard blocks. This project therefore investigates the biological, engineering, and economic aspects of the steam based thermotherapy technique for HLB management. WSU team’s efforts are towards development of horticultural oils based application techniques for tree canopy pre- and post-treatment to improve effectiveness of the thermotherapy. Team is also leveraging such efforts to develop and evaluate thermotherapy treatments in combination with the horticultural oils mixtures towards the effective management of pear psyllid outbreak during various production stages in the WA State and investigating effectiveness of thermotherapy in pear decline disease management.