CDFA's Pierce's Disease Advisory Task Force to Meet June 6

SACRAMENTO - The California Department of Food & Agriculture's (CDFA) Pierce's Disease Advisory Task Force will meet June 6, 2001, at the department's headquarters in Sacramento. The group, appointed by CDFA Secretary William (Bill) J. Lyons, Jr., guides the ongoing, statewide effort to find and fight Pierce's Disease and the glassy-winged sharpshooter, a flying pest that threatens California grapes and other crops, ornamental plants and nurseries, and can be a nuisance to residents.

The meeting will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the CDFA Auditorium at 1220 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.

The glassy-winged sharpshooter feeds and lays eggs on hundreds of plant species. It can carry bacteria that causes Pierce's Disease in grape vines and other diseases in citrus, peach, almond and other trees, and in ornamental plants such as oleander. The sharpshooter has infested Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Ventura, Orange, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Kern counties, and smaller segments of Butte, Contra Costa, Sacramento, Fresno and Tulare counties.

For additional information on the glassy-winged sharpshooter and Pierce's Disease, please visit www.cdfa.ca.gov/gwss.