Corpsmembers Helping Prevent Agricultural Disaster in SoCal
A CCC Norwalk Corpsmember bends over to pick up orange in a City of Redlands orange grove in order to dispose of potentially infected fruit.
It’s not your typical emergency response, but for the last few months Corpsmembers have been working hand-in-hand with our partners at the California Department of Food & Agriculture.
In the City of Redlands, renown for its orange groves, an invasive and damaging pest is once again infecting fruit.
Norwalk Corpsmembers use rakes and other hand tools to corral potentially infected oranges in Redlands during a fruit fly infestation emergency response.
The Oriental Fruit Fly is present once again, and CCC crews are helping CDFA remove any fruit that may be infected in a quarantine zone.
It’s exhaustive, arduous work; the goal of preventing the fly from becoming a permanent resident could save the state’s agricultural industry billions of dollars and prevent fruit prices from rising for consumers.
