Citrus Quarantine Program (CQP)
AWM’s Citrus Quarantine Program (CQP) helps protect California citrus by working with local growers, gardeners, and consumers to prevent and limit the spread of pests and plant diseases in the county.
One such disease is Huanglongbing (HLB), a citrus-greening disease that is deadly to citrus trees and a threat to our local citrus industry. HLB is spread by the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), a tiny insect that may transmit the bacteria between citrus trees as it feeds on new growth. While HLB is deadly to citrus, it does not harm people, animals, or other plants.
HLB has no cure. But by working together, we can save our citrus from this deadly disease. That’s why, now more than ever, AWM needs your help by working with agricultural officials to inspect your trees for signs of HLB and ACP.
Visit CitrusInsider and CaliforniaCitrusThreat to learn more.
NEW: Citrus Quarantine Expanded in Valley Center (March 2025)
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has confirmed additional detections of HLB in two citrus trees on two residential properties in Valley Center on March 26, 2025. The new quarantine area will expand the existing Valley Center quarantine boundaries further into Pala and Pauma Valley.
The infected trees are being treated and removed, and ag officials are moving swiftly on mandatory survey and treatment activities within a 250-meter area of the find sites. This prohibits residents and commercial operations from moving citrus or anyother HLB host plants or plant parts within a five-mile radius, and fruit grown in the area must undergo additional mitigation steps before it can be transported into or out of this area.
These steps are critical to help remove a host of the disease and vectors that can spread the disease and to protect nearby citrus.
HLB quarantines are still ongoing in parts of San Diego County in Oceanside, Rancho Bernardo, and Fallbrook, in addition to parts of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, where more than 8,600 trees have tested positive for the disease and been removed since 2012. This new Fallbrook quarantine area connects the existing quarantine boundaries in the Oceanside and Valley Center areas of San Diego County.
For additional information:
- Call the CDFA hotline to report suspicious pests or HLB
disease symptoms: 1-800-491-1899.
- See this Valley Center Citrus Quarantine flier.
- View the quarantine boundaries on the interacive map below.
April 10-11 Valley Center Grower Meeting Presentations:
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Info for Industry Members
- CDFA crews will remove and dispose of the infected tree and conduct mandatory survey and treatment of residential host plants within 250 meters of the detection site. These steps are critical to removing a reservoir of the disease and vectors that can spread the disease and are essential to protecting nearby citrus.
- This detection expands a mandatory HLB quarantine area with a
five-mile radius around the find sites. Do not move any host nursery
stock, host plants, or plant parts within five miles of the find
site.
- This detection expands the existing
Valley Center quarantine boundaries further into Pala and Pauma
Valley.
- This detection will also place
additional parts of San Diego County into Bulk Citrus Regional
Quarantine Zone 6, which will require any commercial citrus growers
in the area to apply additional mitigation step(s) before citrus can
be transported into or out of the HLB quarantine. Visit CitrusInsider.org’s
Maps and Quarantines page for more details.
- CDFA will contact production and retail nurseries within
five miles of the find site to issue a hold notice that prevents the
sale of nursery stock host plants.
- All
citrus growers, packers, transporters, and fruit sellers in the
county must have an ACP Compliance Agreement from AWM to move any
citrus fruit (contact CQP.AWM@sdcounty.ca.gov).
- Commercial citrus growers may contact San Diego
County Citrus Pest Control District at 951-334-7611 or CDFA Grower
Liaison Sandra Zwaal at szwaal2@gmail.com for more
information.
- The interactive
citrus quarantine map can be used to determine if you are
inside the quarantine ( Directions
to use interactive map).
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Info for Residents
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Protect your backyard citrus trees by searching for symptoms of HLB and reporting any suspicious symptoms immediately to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) at 1-800-491-1899 or AWM.
- Do not move citrus into or out of the area.
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Remove all leaves and stems and thoroughly wash backyard citrus before moving from the property where it was grown.
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Buy trees from reputable, licensed California nurseries.
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When grafting, use only registered budwood with source documentation.
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Dry or double-bag plant clippings before disposal.
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Talk to your local home and garden center about products that can protect your citrus trees against ACP.
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Please cooperate with agriculture officials – allow them to access your property to survey citrus trees and take samples to look for the disease.
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HLB-infected trees must be removed to protect other trees, the community’s citrus, and the state’s vibrant commercial citrus industry.
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If you have citrus that is not cared for, consider removing it to help prevent it from becoming a host to the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) or HLB.
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The ACP – the insect that spreads the disease – is similar in size to an aphid. Adults are brown, about 1/8th of an inch long, and feed with their bodies at a 45-degree angle.
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Symptoms of HLB include blotchy, yellowing of leaves; yellow shoots; lopsided, small, and rancid-tasting fruit; and premature and excessive fruit drop.
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HLB is not harmful to humans or animals, but it is fatal for citrus trees.
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There is no cure for HLB. When a tree is infected, it will die.
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Fallbrook
Quarantine Information
Valley Center Quarantine Information
Rancho Bernardo Quarantine Information
Oceanside Quarantine Information
Videos
Learn how to support the HLB fight as a citrus hobbyist at via the YouTube videos below.
Dangers of Moving Citrus Fruit in California (Vietnamese)
English / Español / Tiếng Việt / 한국어 / 普通话 / 粵語
California Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee (CPDPC)
Best Practices for Growers in Response to HLB in California
To provide California citrus growers with a strong toolbox of
options to protect their orchards from Huanglongbing (HLB), the Citrus
Pest & Disease Prevention Committee has endorsed the following
“Best Practices for Growers in Response to HLB in California.” The
recommendations – which are grouped based on a grower’s proximity to
an HLB detection – represent the most effective tools known to the
citrus industry at this time and are meant to supplement the
California Department of Food and Agriculture’s required regulatory
response.
Growers are encouraged to use as many methods
as feasible for their operation in order to limit the spread of the
Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) and HLB, as the cost to manage the Asian
citrus psyllid is far less than any potential costs or loss to the
industry should HLB take hold throughout our state.
Please visit CitrusInsider.org for more information.
Huanglongbing (HLB) Sampling for Growers
HLB Sample Collection and Submission Protocol
Citrus Pest Detection Program (CPDP) Services
The following are links that are provided to assist both homeowners and industry members alike.
Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program (CPDPP)
Homeowner Oriented: https://californiacitrusthreat.org/
Industry Oriented: https://citrusinsider.org/
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) ACP Information
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/acp/
CDFA Notice of Treatment (NOT) Information
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/acp/treatment_maps.html#maps
CDFA currently coordinates areawide treatments for ACP present in San Diego county when no other mitigation methods are available. CDFA posts Notices of Treatment (NOTs) at least 48 hours in advance of any treatment. To view NOTs for San Diego county, please click here.
United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Citrus Information
Contact Information
Residents can contact the San Diego County Dept. of Agriculture, Weights & Measures’ Citrus Quarantine Program at CQP.AWM@sdcounty.ca.gov or by calling (858) 614-7770 for more information.
Commercial Growers can also contact the CDFA Citrus Pest
and Disease Prevention Division at (916) 274-6300 or cdfa.cpdpd@cdfa.ca.gov for
more information.
Email labs.awm@sdcounty.ca.gov (Please put “Entomology” in the subject line to ensure timely routing) or call (858) 614-7738 for more information.
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