Grapefruit production in the US state of Florida is forecast to increase on last season’s levels.
The total harvest is expected to reach 20.3 million boxes, which is eight per cent higher than last season.
Pink and red fruit continues to dominate output and 14.5m of these boxes are pigmented fruit, an increase of seven per cent year on year, while 5.8m are white fruit, an increase of eight per cent year on year.
These increases come despite the estimated one per cent decline in the number of trees in production across both white and coloured fruit to 4.9 million.
Estimated white fruit per tree is 550, an increase of 24 per cent on the 2011-12 crop year and fruit size is above minimum with an estimated 103 pieces required to fill an 85lb box.
However, fruit is estimated to drop at above the maximum level and projections are for an 18 per cent drop.
Meanwhile, estimated fruit per tree is 492 for coloured fruit, an increase of 15 percent from last season, although fruit size is forecast to be below average requiring an estimated 111 pieces to fill an 85lb box.
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