Florida citrus growers are facing a new threat to their industry in the form of a deadly virus.
Reports in local media said the citrus tristeza virus is killing off entire groves in the central Florida area, with one producer reporting it had spread across the entire citrus belt.
At the moment the number of trees or grove acres affected in the Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties remains unknown, but once infected, trees can be lost within one growing season.
Growers infected by the virus have two options, sell up or replant using a different variety of rootstock resistant to the condition.
The news comes on the back of a season devastated by hurricanes and, with increasing pressure on land for commercial uses, the industry fears more and more growers may be tempted to sell up.
Mike Yetter, director of international markets with Florida Department of Citrus, told the Journal, late last year, the hurricane damage may prove to be the final straw for many: “There’s a constant pressure for land to redeveloped for commercial and housing use and the damage may well speed that process along.
“There are people in the industry who have been growing for generations and they will probably replant, but for growers sitting on the fence, it may just push them into selling.”
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