<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"> Weslaco, TX</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">5.2.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, rains have slowed the harvest of citrus and vegetable crops, according toTexas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center experts.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The rains have temporarily halted cabbage and other vegetable harvesting and pose a threat of decay to the onion crop. Last year, heavy rains decimated onion crops in the area in late March, causing damaging fungus and bacteria –known as blight- to proliferate.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“We got anywhere from an inch to as much as 6 inches of rain Sunday,” said Dr. Juan Anciso, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service citrus and vegetable specialist. “Some areas along the Rio Grande near Weslaco got the really heavy rains, but 1 inch to 3 inches of rain was more common throughout the Valley.”<img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/texas-rio-rain-cabbage-cropped.jpg" alt="images050213" />This season, the impact is expected to be minimal on the remaining crops including cabbage, carrots and onions, Anciso said. However, additional rains could deteriorate the quality of those crops.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“It’s nothing major, but soggy fields have kept most harvesters out of the field this week,” he said. “You don’t want to get mud on cabbage because they can’t be easily washed. And you want onions as dry as possible in the field, otherwise they’ll start to decay. And carrots and citrus, well, there will just be a slight delay on harvesting them until things dry out.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The rains also help facilitate an environment conductive to psyllid growth as they cause citrus trees to send out shoots – where psyllids lay eggs and reproduce, according to Dr. Raul Villanueva, an AgriLife Extension entomologist. Psyllids are insects that can carry citrus greening, a bacterial disease that can eventually kill citrus trees.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“For some reason, psyllid populations have been high this year, so growers need to keep up with their sprays,” said Villanueva.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://today.agrilife.org/2013/05/01/rains-halt-vegetable-harvest/ " target="_new">South Texas Rains</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
