Florida avocado crop threatened by ambrosia beetle and deadly laurel wilt fungus

Originally published on 28 April, 2015 Sign up for a free trial of News Direct's animated news graphics at http://newsdirect.nma.com.tw/Reuters.... ---------------------------------------­----------------------------------------­--------------- For story suggestions please contact [email protected] Researchers in Florida are using dogs and drones in the fight against a disease that is threatening the state’s multimillion dollar avocado industry, as part of a Florida International University program funded by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The disease, laurel wilt, is caused by the fungus Raffaelea lauricola, and kills more than 90 percent of trees within six weeks of infection. Laurel wilt is vectored by the ambrosia beetle, an invasive species from Asia. For the project, researchers are testing the use of a drone and dogs to detect the disease before symptoms are visible to the human eye. Using drones allows large areas to be scanned much faster than it would take humans to examine every individual tree. The drone uses a digital thermal imaging camera to scan areas for infected trees. If a problem area is detected, disease-sniffing dogs are dispatched to confirm the presence of an infection. If the infection is caught early enough, the tree can be saved by treating it with fungicide. Florida’s avocado industry is worth more than $35 million a year to the state’s economy. ---------------------------------------­----------------------------------------­--------------- Next Media Animation’s News Direct service provides daily, high-quality, informative 3D animated news graphics that fill in for missing footage and help viewers understand breaking news stories or in-depth features on science, technology, and health. To subscribe to News Direct or for more info, please visit: http://newsdirect.nma.com.tw/Index.aspx