Economic value of conservation biological control for management of the Asian citrus psyllid, vector of citrus Huanglongbing disease

BACKGROUND Huanglongbing (HLB) is the most devastating disease associated with citrus, transmitted by its principal vector Diaphorina citri, the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). At present, the only effective action against this pathosystem is vector management. Owing to the severity of HLB, vector management mostly relies on highly frequent insecticide applications. While this strategy may be able to maintain the economic viability of citrus operations in the short term, it raises numerous concerns for the development of D. citri insecticide resistance as well as further impacts to human health and environmental sustainability. The present study estimates and allocates HLB management costs resulting from the loss of ACP conservation biological control (CBC) within vector‐intensive insecticide management regimes. Scenarios under different degrees of CBC were simulated and vector populations were estimated. CBC costs were calculated by subtracting the total HLB related costs of the scenarios with high ACP biological control to those of the scenarios with no or low biological control. RESULTS We have estimated that an agroecosystem without an effective CBC management program for the suppression of ACP would result in predicted economical loss ranging from $1150 to $2000 per hectare. The proposed model translates to a total economic loss of approximately $300 million to Florida's citrus industry per season (36.42% of total Florida processed oranges production value). CONCLUSION These results help to identify the long‐term viability of the HLB management strategies currently implemented and highlight the urgency of finding a definitive and sustainable solution to HLB. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry Intensive ACP insecticide management programs importantly hamper biological control in citrus agroecosystems. This article presents an evaluation of the economic costs that this strategy poses in conservation biological control services.