Out
On A Limb / March 2006
Bad Day for OJ
Florida is the nation’s leading orange grower, second only to the nation of Brazil, but last year’s record hurricane season has spread citrus canker far from Florida’s orange belt, stressing and damaging trees as far north as Cape Cod. Federal officials said in January they would halt efforts to eradicate the now-entrenched disease.
Canker is a bacteria that weakens trees and scars fruit, but officials said the disease has spread too far as a result of 2005 hurricanes to make eradication feasible.
While diseased trees will still be removed and burned, thousands of nearby trees potentially exposed to canker will no longer be destroyed.
Industry experts have long warned that failure to eradicate the disease would damage Florida’s orange industry, which brings a total economic benefit of $9.1 billion to the state. Merely controlling the disease is too expensive an undertaking in the face of lower-cost competition from Brazil, Mexico and other countries.
The citrus canker scars fruit, making it unattractive to buyers. More Florida fruit will be squeezed for juice now that canker has a permanent foothold, since the canker doesn't harm the fruit’s juice, only its appearance. Although it poses no threat to humans, citrus canker disfigures and weakens citrus trees.
The pathogen was initially detected in Florida near Miami International Airport in 1995. Before the 2004 hurricanes, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services had said it was close to eradicating the disease in the state. So far, Florida citrus growers have lost 7 million trees on more than 80,000 acres.
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Femme Fair 2006
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