Florida’s citrus crop forecast is down 9 percent from last year as the impact of HLB, or citrus greening disease, is assessed.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reduced its final forecast for the 2012-2013 Florida orange crop to 133.4 million boxes. Valencias were cut by 700,000 boxes to 66.3 million boxes, while early-mid varieties climbed 100,000 boxes to 67.1 million boxes.
"We had severe fruit drop, and a lot of citrus from stressed trees with HLB ended up on the ground," said Michael W. Sparks, executive VP/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual in a news release."If anything, this season provides stark evidence that growers, scientists and the state and federal governments need to work together to beat this disease and save the $9 billion Florida citrus industry and the 76,000 jobs it supports."
Citrus greening is found in all of Florida's 32 commercial citrus-producing counties, which have 550,000 acres of groves and is spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, often kills trees within a couple of years, according to the South Florida Business Journal. The psyllid was first found in South Florida in 1998 before spreading, according to the University of Florida.
South Florida Business Journal
