Florida's citrus production has collapsed 94% due to citrus greening disease because there is no cure and the insect vector cannot be adequately controlled

Huanglongbing (HLB), commonly called citrus greening, is a bacterial disease spread by the Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) that has destroyed Florida's citrus industry. Production has plummeted from 244 million boxes in 1998 to a projected 12 million boxes for 2024-2025 -- a 94% decline. Over 50 million trees have been killed. Florida citrus acreage has shrunk from 748,555 acres in 2004 to 274,705 in 2024, with groves abandoned or converted to housing developments and cattle pasture. The industry has lost $20 billion in revenue and 33,000 jobs. The core horror is that there is no cure for an infected tree. Once a psyllid feeds on an infected tree and then moves to a healthy one, the bacterium (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus) colonizes the phloem, blocking nutrient transport. The tree produces small, bitter, lopsided fruit that drops prematurely. Within 3-5 years the tree dies. A grower who has spent $10,000-15,000 per acre establishing a grove watches it become worthless with no remedy. Production costs have more than doubled because growers must spray insecticides intensively to suppress psyllid populations, apply foliar nutrition to keep sick trees alive longer, and replant at enormous expense -- only to see new trees get infected within 1-2 years. The economics have become so punishing that many multigenerational citrus families have simply quit. This problem persists because the Asian citrus psyllid is extraordinarily difficult to eliminate. It is tiny (3-4mm), highly mobile, and reproduces rapidly. Chemical control reduces populations but cannot achieve the near-total suppression needed to stop disease transmission -- a single infected psyllid can inoculate a tree. Biological control agents like Tamarixia radiata parasitoid wasps help but provide only partial suppression. Physical exclusion with mesh covers (CUPS) works for individual young trees but is impractical at commercial scale. The bacterium itself is unculturable in the lab, which has severely hampered research into antibiotics or resistant rootstocks. Despite two decades of intensive research and hundreds of millions in funding, no breakthrough treatment has emerged. Meanwhile, the psyllid has spread to California, Texas, and other citrus-producing states, threatening to replicate Florida's catastrophe.