The Florida grapefruit season is running about two weeks behind schedule and picking is not due to start until the middle of October. This season the sector is having to contend with citrus canker on top of recovery from last season's hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.
"This year we should have 60-70 per cent of a normal crop," said Doug Bournique of the Indian River Citrus League, which represents growers in the main grapefruit growing area in the state. "But we have still got to take out the effect of canker from that figure. It won't be as big a crop as in previous years, but it will still be a lot bigger than last year."
The devastating effects of the hurricanes reduced the 2004-05 Indian River crop from 28 million field boxes to just 4.2m. "This year we will have a crop at least three times that size," said Bournique.
But the state's slash-and-burn technique that is razing citrus groves to the ground in an attempt to stop the spread of citrus canker, is still causing anxiety. "The disease was brought up state by people moving out of the coastal cities further south [where the disease was already prevalent] bringing their back-yard citrus trees with them," said Bournique. "And then the hurricanes last year just spread it all over the place." But as far as the Indian River area is concerned, there is just one county that is affected while the others have so far remained free of the disease.
Official US department of agriculture maturity tests were published this week and fruit quality looks excellent. "The lateness was caused by the hurricanes last year which meant that the trees did not respond and start to recover until really late on," said Bournique. "But when they did finally pop out, the moisture in spring really helped and internal fruit quality is great. We have an average fruit size profile with a good range of sizes."
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