Jan 25, 2013
New York has plum pox on the run

New York state’s stone fruit growers are breathing a little easier, now that the state is closer to being free of plum pox. Darrel Aubertine, the state’s agriculture commissioner, recently announced that state inspectors have detected no evidence of plum pox virus in the state’s fruit trees. While quarantines are still in place, regulations against new planting have been lifted. New York is the last toehold for plum pox in the United States.

For growers in Orleans and Wayne counties, this means that a total of 24,000 acres are now open to new plantings of stone fruit trees, having been released from a regulated-area designation. Quarantine regulations remain in effect, meaning propagation – including collecting budwood and nursery plantings – is still restricted, Aubertine said.

For a county to move out of the quarantine list, there must be three consecutive years of virus-free tests, said Cornell University’s Deborah Breth, the plum pox specialist for western New York. Regulations in Niagara County remain unchanged, due to a positive test result for plum pox in 2011. Orleans and Wayne counties have tested negative for three years.

“It has not been detected since 2011,” Breth said. “We will continue to monitor to get another three-year period. Pennsylvania had to go through three years of no planting, and another three years after that to get the quarantines lifted.”

When trees are infected with plum pox, yields drop, trees die and fruit is often malformed and not marketable. Plum pox is spread on infested budwood, or through transmission by aphids, Breth said. Plum pox virus does not pose any human health risks, but is a threat to grower’s bank accounts.

“The status is much improved,” Breth said. “Growers have taken out the high-risk blocks at this point. I would be cautious of moving budwood and planting trees in quarantine zones. The quarantine is there to stop propagation. No trees can be propagated in a quarantine zone.”

Pennsylvania was the first state to find plum pox. Trees there tested positive in 1999, and the disease was eradicated in that state in 2009. It was found in New York’s Niagara County in 2006, and later found in Orleans and Wayne counties. Since then, a multi-agency team has been vigorously testing across the state, looking for signs of the disease, Aubertine said.

“This is just an opinion, but I would doubt that the quarantine would be lifted completely any time soon with Niagara County, because of its proximity to Canada,” Breth said. “As long as funding continues, there will be monitoring. USDA did a very thorough job this year along the river that borders Canada in Niagara County.”

Most of the quarantine has affected peach trees and peach growers, Breth said.

New York ranks 11th in the nation for peaches, producing 6,800 tons valued at $8.3 million in 2011, Aubertine said.

Fruit growers and nurseries are still strongly encouraged to contact the plum pox virus eradication program at 518-457-2087 before planting in any of the controlled counties.

By Derrek Sigler, Assistant Editor




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