Decrease of Oranges Crops in Brazil

Orange growers in Sao Paulo, the world's biggest producer, picked 348.4 million 90-pound boxes of the fruit in the past harvest, according to the state's Institute for Agricultural Economics. Production fell 4 million boxes from a year earlier after fungal diseases cut yields. The Brazilian government's statistics agency forecast the country's orange production will decline 1.1 percent to 17.9 million metric tons from 18.1 million tons in 2006.