Bitter Times for Florida Citrus
Posted March 2, 2015 05:59 am
BARTOW,
FL – Once the centerpiece of agribusiness in Florida,
the state's citrus industry is now in crisis. According
to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, crop forecast
estimates for oranges, which supply most of the nation's
orange juice, call for only 103 million boxes to be
produced this year.
Florida Department of Citrus spokesman David Steele says
that marks a dramatic drop from just a decade ago.
"The entire industry is very, very concerned about the
production trends," says Steele. "As recently as
2003-2004, we were very close to 250 million boxes.
That's an incredible decline."
A decline that's mostly due to a deadly insect-borne
disease from Asia called Huanglongbing, or HLB, more
commonly known as greening. The malady infects the trees
by discoloring the citrus and producing fruit that is
misshapen and bitter. The trees eventually die.
Over the past nine years since greening was discovered,
Florida has lost about a third of its citrus farming
acreage to the disease.
The Florida Department of Citrus says the state's citrus
industry employs more than 60,000 people and provides an
annual economic impact of nearly $11 billion. Steele
says growers can only watch as their groves are
devastated.
"There are no cures right now," Steele says. "There is
no silver bullet. Having said that, there's hundreds of
millions of dollars being invested in research. Some of
that is focused on finding what we would think of us as
a cure."
Also affecting Florida's top crop is America's declining
taste for orange juice. Studies show OJ sales at record
lows. But Steele says supply is still meeting demand.
"Americans continue to drink literally every drop of
orange juice that Florida growers can produce," Steele
says. "So, the declines in consumption are not outpacing
the declines in production and right now, if Americans
wanted more Florida orange juice there would no where
for them to get it."
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently
announced his department would contribute $30 million in
federal funding towards the cause, and Florida's
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam recently asked
state leaders for another $18 million to combat the
greening epidemic.
There's even been discussion about genetically modifying
citrus to harden it against the disease.
Photos/graphics; links; added and updated by the Observer
This piece was reprinted by the Columbia County Observer with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.