Citrus huanglongbing (HLB), or greening, is the most destructive citrus disease worldwide and is threatening the sustainability of the industry in major citrus-growing regions. Various treatments have been proposed in the literature to manage the disease. We review such literature and conduct an economic analysis based on the reported treatment effects on fruit yield and quality to identify cost-effective management strategies. Our results suggest that, among the treatments we reviewed, broad-spectrum insecticides provide the only cost-effective strategy for mitigating the impact of the disease. Our findings and discussion should help growers, policymakers, and other stakeholders make informed decisions in the search for effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly treatments and policies against HLB.

While pest management decisions are made at the farm level, a distinctive characteristic of the pest management of invasive species is its public-good nature. Here, we examine the challenges that a vector-disease pathosystem such as Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae)—citrus greening, creates for the adoption of prevention and collective management practices from an economic perspective. Those economic challenges originate from the choices and behavior of individual growers, which can impact not only their own payoff but also the choices, behavior and payoffs of other growers; influencing, for example, the spread of the disease, the vector population dynamics, and the adoption of proposed scientific solutions. While for most people the economics of invasive species is limited to calculating damage or control costs, economics is more than that. Economics can provide insights on the interactions between human behavior and natural processes, enabling a better understanding of the rationale of individual growers’ choices, which are key for the design and implementation of effective public policies to deal with invasive pests and diseases.

Citrus greening currently poses a severe threat to citrus production worldwide. No treatment or management strategy is yet available to cure the disease. Scientists recommend controlling the vector of the disease, and area-wide pest management has been proposed as a superior alternative to individual pest management. We analyzed a unique dataset of farm-level citrus yields that allowed us to test this hypothesis. We found that yields of blocks located in an area with higher participation in coordinated sprays were 28%, 73% and 98% percent higher in 2012/13, 2013/14, and 2014/15, respectively, compared to the yields of blocks under the same management but located in an area with lower participation; providing evidence on the efficiency of a well-performing pest management area to deal with HLB. However, participation in CHMAs has not been commensurate with this evidence. We present survey data that provide insights about producers' preferences and attitudes toward the area-wide pest management program. Despite the economic benefit we found areawide pest management can provide, the strategic uncertainty involved in relying on neighbors seems to impose too high of a cost for most growers, who end up not coordinating sprays. AbstractCitrus greening currently poses a severe threat to citrus production worldwide. No treatment or management strategy is yet available to cure the disease. Scientists recommend controlling the vector of the disease, and area-wide pest management has been proposed as a superior alternative to individual pest management. We analyzed a unique dataset of farm-level citrus yields that allowed us to test this hypothesis. We found that yields of blocks located in an area with higher participation in coordinated sprays were 28%, 73% and 98% percent higher in 2012/13, 2013/14, and 2014/15, respectively, compared to the yields of blocks under the same management but located in an area with lower participation; providing evidence on the efficiency of a wellperforming pest management area to deal with HLB. However, participation in CHMAs has not been commensurate with this evidence. We present survey data that provide insights about producers' preferences and attitudes toward the area-wide pest management program. Despite the economic benefit we found area-wide pest management can provide, the strategic uncertainty involved in relying on neighbors seems to impose too high of a cost for most growers, who end up not coordinating sprays.

The Florida citrus industry has been enduring the impact of citrus greening since 2005. The disease has been the main driver for the state's citrus production to plummet by 80% in the past 13 years, causing the industry to downsize drastically. Planting new groves is key to ensuring a supply of fruit for processors and packinghouses to stay in business. However, a key question is whether it makes economic sense to plant a new grove in the current environment. We estimate the establishment and production costs for a new grove under endemic Huanglongbing (HLB; citrus greening) conditions for three different tree planting densities under different market conditions and examine their profitability. Our results show that establishing a new grove with a tree density similar to that of the state's average is not profitable under current market conditions. However, greater tree densities are profitable despite the greater level of investment required.