Efficacy of Trunk Injected Imidacloprid and Oxytetracycline in Managing Huanglongbing and Asian Citrus Psyllid in Infected Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) Trees

Abstract

Traditional foliar spray and soil drench applications of crop protection compounds have been ineffective at managing huanglongbing (HLB) in citrus. Trunk injection is a technique that delivers crop protection compounds directly into the tree vasculature, which optimizes compound availability while minimizing drift, runoff, and damage to non-target organisms. Five-year-old HLB-affected ‘Valencia’ sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) trees were injected with the insecticide imidacloprid or the antibacterial oxytetracycline in October 2020 and April 2021. Trees were monitored for tree health, psyllid colonization, bacterial titers, fruit quality, fruit drop, and yield for two production seasons. Imidacloprid injection caused 63% mortality of psyllid adults within one week and reduced progeny survival by 80%, though the efficacy waned within two months. Injection with oxytetracycline significantly improved tree health, reduced bacterial titers, and reduced preharvest fruit drop by more than 3-fold with corresponding increases in yield. Residue dynamics varied by injected compound and tissue analyzed. These results suggest trunk injection could be an effective delivery method for existing or novel therapeutics targeting either the insect vector or the pathogen causing HLB.