KJZZ is a service of Rio Salado College,
and Maricopa Community Colleges

Copyright © 2025 KJZZ/Rio Salado College/MCCCD
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Citrus Quarantine Expanded To Parts Of Maricopa County

The Arizona Department of Agriculture has expanded its quarantine of citrus trees infected with the Asian citrus psyllid to include parts of Maricopa County. 

John Caravetta of the Department of Agriculture said there are isolated cases of the psyllid in Wickenburg and Surprise. The agency has introduced insects that feed on the pysllid, however, "It has not been successfully eradicated in any states where it has occurred and the populations are managed so that they’re at lowest levels possible."

Caravetta says the goal is to prevent the insect from infecting citrus trees with bacteria that causes “citrus greening,” which will kill the tree. There is no cure for the disease, and it has already devastated groves in Texas and Florida.

KJZZ senior field correspondent Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets — nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.