The caterpillar of the lime swallowtail butterfly can strip a citrus tree of every leaf. The insect, originating in Asia, has spread as far as the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Puerto Rico and agricultural experts worry that the pest could soon be introduced to the US. An infestation in the Dominican Republic destroyed 3% of a companies nursery stock by stripping the trees down to branches. The orchards' main defense is to simply pick any leaves containing butterfly eggs.
Florida's 9 billion dollar citrus industry is already under stress from the blight. I believe the current remedy for the blight in Florida is to cut down all trees within a 1200' radius of the infected tree. I believe EarthMark could come up with a better remedy. Using the rootstock from our superior trees and a fertilizer called VitaProduct, we could create a blight resistant tree.
No comments:
Post a Comment