The Economics of Planting New Citrus Groves in Florida in the Era of HLB

Abstract

Citrus greening, or huanglongbing (HLB), is a bacterial disease that affects citrus trees’ vascular systems, limiting nutrient uptake. As trees become increasingly affected by the disease, they suffer premature fruit drop, the fruit harvested is smaller and misshapen, and the juice quality is compromised, all resulting in lower yield. To this date there is no cure or successful management strategy to deal with HLB. This 8-page fact sheet written by Ariel Singerman, Marina Burani-Arouca, and Stephen H. Futch and published by the UF/IFAS Food and Resource Economics Department summarizes the results of an analysis of three tree densities under different production and market conditions to determine which density is most profitable. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe1050

Steam Explosion (STEX) of Citrus × Poncirus Hybrids with Exceptional Tolerance to Candidatus Liberibacter Asiaticus (CLas) as Useful Sources of Volatiles and Other Commercial Products

“…Another major source of economic value for these hybrids is the reduced cost of production compared to current commercial varieties [ 2 , 92 , 93 ]. Before HLB was widespread, the cost of maintaining a grove was USD 2869 per hectare and had risen to USD 4804 per hectare by the 2016–2017 season [ 92 ].…”

“…Another major source of economic value for these hybrids is the reduced cost of production compared to current commercial varieties [ 2 , 92 , 93 ]. Before HLB was widespread, the cost of maintaining a grove was USD 2869 per hectare and had risen to USD 4804 per hectare by the 2016–2017 season [ 92 ]. The cost of producing the hybrids would be less per hectare than oranges or grapefruit because special applications of fertilizer and pesticides related to HLB would not be needed.…”