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Brazil citrus industry threatened by disease
Brazil
Tuesday 06 January 2009
Workers sort oranges at a juice processing plant in Araraquara, Brazil. In the last four years, the disease has been a nightmare for the world’s largest citrus industry.
Orange growers have been devastated by the effects of 'greening,' which is destructive and incurable. Officials say it's only a matter of time before it takes a toll on California's industry.
By the time orange grower Gabriel Simoes noticed symptoms of the incurable "greening" disease last year, it was too late to do anything about it. Now four of every five trees in his 1,000-acre orchard are dead or dying.
Industry officials say it's only a matter of time before California's US$1.2-billion citrus industry is threatened by the "mother of all citrus diseases," which has invaded thousands of acres here in Brazil's citrus belt with sickening speed.
Industry officials say it's only a matter of time before California's US$1.2-billion citrus industry is threatened by the "mother of all citrus diseases," which has invaded thousands of acres here in Brazil's citrus belt with sickening speed.
"For a family business like ours that truly loves oranges and grew along with citrus culture in Brazil, it's been very tragic," said Simoes, 26, who studied business at the University of Oklahoma. "But there are forces greater than us."
Coming on top of climate change and a depressed commodities market, greening has become a nightmare for the world's largest citrus industry in the four years since it was first detected here in Sao Paulo state.
Coming on top of climate change and a depressed commodities market, greening has become a nightmare for the world's largest citrus industry in the four years since it was first detected here in Sao Paulo state.
Twenty-five percent or more of the state's groves could disappear in coming years if a cure isn't found, according to Markestrat, a market research firm in Ribeirao Preto, the center of the state's citrus industry. Others say the toll could be far worse.
"Greening isn't just any disease," said Nelson Marega Barrancos, manager of one of Brazil's largest orange groves, a 4-million-tree plantation. "There is no way to stop it. The future is not good."
Although greening has not yet struck California, carrier insects called psyllids were caught in traps in San Diego and Imperial counties in August, apparently after having crossed from Mexico. Authorities have since declared a 1,000-square-mile quarantine in parts of those two counties, restricting plant traffic.
