Efforts to fight a dangerous citrus virus received a positive response from the citrus growing public for the Agriculture and Fisheries department.

Terry Lyn Thompson, senior plant protection officer last week said managing the spread of the Citrus Tristeza Virus (CTV) would be a community effort.

More than 100 people attended the March 22 meeting at the Ministry headquarters which saw a variety of responses from citrus growers.

"What we want is the citrus growing public to buy into our efforts,'' Ms Thompson said. "What we would like to do is manage the various citrus diseases.'' What was most evident in the meeting was the need to educate the public about orchard maintenance, citrus culture, pests and diseases, she said.

"Should we eradicate them or should we try to manage them is what we want to know,'' Ms Thompson continued. "Because we will not be able to do neither without the public's cooperation.'' Ms Thompson said that while the Island did not have a large citrus growing industry, most citrus growers are people who had an attachment to their citrus plants. She said she was "gratified'' by the response, and added: "We want to be conciliatory. This is an educational process. We want to know how they perceive the situation.'' Ms Thompson was interviewed in her office at the Ministry's Point Finger Road headquarters and was interrupted at least twice with questions about citrus growing.

Ms Thompson explained that the nature of citrus growing -- grafting plants onto root stocks -- spreads diseases like CTV and Psorosis.

CTV and Psorosis debilitate many citrus plants island wide and can even kill some plants depending on the root stock used.

Certain root stocks are used because they impart desired characteristics to the grafted plant.

Using only one root stock would be a disaster Ms Thompson said, because all are susceptible to one disease or another.

She said that efficient post-planting care of virus-free citrus would go a long way to solving our citrus disease problem, and noted there was no such thing as a virus resistant plant.

"There are some plants that are virus tolerant, meaning they won't die of a particular disease,'' Ms Thompson explained.

Proper care through fertilisation, correct pruning, and monitoring for pests will lead to maximum productivity from virus free plants.

"With care of a plant and even with grafting we can't just cross our fingers and hope they never get infected,'' she said. "There is no such thing as a virus resistant tree. What happens is that the virus could be present in the tree but not produce any symptoms that would be detrimental to the plant.'' "It would have a degree of tolerance,'' she said, adding that certain root stocks may impart tolerance to insects or soil.

"Some of the root stocks that we use in Bermuda, like Sour Orange are very susceptible to CTV, while others like Rough Lemon is very susceptible to a fungal disease like foot rot,'' she added.