Fall in Florida's harvest and difficulty in curing greening are warnings for Brazil in the fight against the disease

A new estimate of the 2021/22 orange harvest in Florida (USA), released on February 9 by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), is reduced again. The projection is 43,5 million boxes, 1 million less compared to the last release in January – check out the full report: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Florida/Publications/Citrus/Citrus_Forecast/2021-22/cit0222.pdf.

This impact on the harvest refers to the Valencia variety to be harvested, which was reduced by 4%, to 26 million boxes. The forecast for the other varieties remained unchanged, at 17,5 million boxes. The total expected fruit drop is 34,6%.

If the forecast comes true, Florida's orange production will be 18% lower than the last harvest. These data represent the lowest production since the identification of greening in the state, in 2005 – with the exception of the 2017/18 harvest, of 45 million boxes, which was affected by Hurricane Irma.

For Fundecitrus researcher Renato Bassanezi, this scenario faced by Florida is a warning for Brazil. “The impacts of greening are striking and evident in the region, which was once the largest producer of oranges and juice in the world. And even though, for years, the focus has been on finding a cure for sick plants, research in this regard has not yet yielded promising results,” he adds.

Recently, the  Citrus Research and Development Foundation (Citrus Research and Development Foundation) announced that they are still far from finding a solution to the disease and have outlined priorities for the continued development of research – find out more: https://citrusindustry.net/2022/02/07/hlb-the-path-forward/.

“This is yet another indication for Brazilian citrus growers to continue investing in a complete management package against greening, with strict control of the psyllid and the disease”, highlights Bassanezi.

Furthermore, other studies carried out by researchers from the United States in Florida and Texas demonstrated that preventive control of the disease is more economically advantageous than the costs involved in alleviating symptoms or attempting to cure and maintain production when living with the disease. – check out the complete studies: https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.313310 e https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.313310.

“All these points are important to guide the measures adopted by Brazil to combat the disease”, concludes Bassanezi.