Good news! My first Naturally Riversidearticle described and explained two quarantines affecting Riverside’s produce and the products of your backyard trees – one associated with the fatal citrus disease, Huanglongbing (HLB), and the other associated with the Oriental Fruit Fly (OFF). The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) canceled the OFF quarantine for Riverside and Moreno Valley a few weeks ago.
Although the quarantine continues for parts of San Bernardino County, it is now legal to move a wide array of unprocessed fruits, from avocados to zucchinis, in Riverside County. It’s now OK to share your backyard produce with your friends, relatives, and neighbors. And you won’t see those annoying nets at Riverside County farmers’ markets anymore.
Lifting the quarantine was possible because no new OFFs were observed in Riverside County over a period equivalent to three OFF life cycles. The OFF has been fully eradicated from the County. The efforts of the CDFA, USDA, and the County Agriculture Commissioner, plus YOUR cooperation, stopped the infestation in its tracks!
Norm Ellstrand is an emeritus Distinguished Professor of Genetics and former Director of the California Agriculture and Food Enterprise at the University of California Riverside.
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