The 2000/2001 orange crop will amount to nearly 369 million 40kg boxes, according to a report published by Brazil's Institute of Agricultural Economy (IEA), part of the Sõo Paulo department of agriculture. This is equivalent to an eight per cent drop on the 1999-2000 crop, which the IEA re-estimated recently at 400 million boxes, an upward revision from pre-season forecasts of 387.7 million boxes. According to IEA researchers, dry weather conditions, high temperatures and reduced use of fertilisers on plantations because of a lack of grower funds are the causes of a smaller 2000/2001 crop. The forecasts is slightly less gloomy than the initial projection of a 10 to 15 per cent loss in production. The 2000/2001 orange harvest will begin next May and the majority of the crop is destined for the freshly-squeezed and frozen juicing sector. Brazil is a world leader in frozen concentrate orange juice production.

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