6 months ago
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Citrus fruits are fetching record prices in Jamaica due to a severe shortage locally and across the globe, caused by both disease and climate events.
A 90-pound field box of oranges costs about $15,000, which is up from about $800 about 15 years ago before the local stock was ravaged by the citrus greening disease.
Currently, there is a high demand for citrus seedlings from persons seeking to establish small plots, even as the Government rolls out a citrus revitalisation programme in the parish of Manchester.
“In my mind, Jamaica now has some of the most expensive citrus across the world. A box of citrus worldwide is probably about US$30 to US$40 while here, we are looking at close to US$100 per box,” Alfred Bennett, manager of the nursery and seed certification unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, told the Financial Gleaner.
Even with a conservative $10,000 per box and with each tree yielding one box of oranges on average, with 200 trees per acre, farmers can make a cool $2 million per year off just one acre of land.
But as Bennett explains, it is not that easy as the troublesome greening disease is now endemic to Jamaica and takes considerable time and resources to control.
Citrus greening is a bacterial disease that affects all varieties of citrus trees. It is primarily spread by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid – the scientific name for which is Diaphorina citri. This pest acts as a vector, transmitting the disease-causing bacteria from infected trees to healthy ones as it feeds on the leaves and stems of citrus plants.
The disease has had a devastating impact on citrus production in many parts of the world, including the United States, Brazil, and parts of Asia, as well as the Caribbean, including Jamaica.
The disease has caused the production of citrus in Jamaica to plummet from five million boxes per year to the current estimate of 1.1 million, which could even be lower, Bennett said.
“With the largest producer with the best-kept farm producing just over 100,000 boxes I don’t see the rest of the country being able to give you over a million boxes,” he said. The largest producer referenced is Trade Winds Citrus Limited.
Meanwhile, Peter McConnell, managing director of Trade Winds, confirmed that his “current production is 100,000 field boxes versus a peak of 650,000 in 2008”.
Bennett said the days of producing five million boxes per year are over but says farmers can do well if they are prepared to care and nurture their trees scientifically.
He suggests a three-pronged approach to managing the deadly citrus greening disease: chemical control by spraying with insecticide, biological control by the introduction of a parasitic wasp, and a nutrition programme to make the plants robust enough to produce despite having the disease.
Bennett said for years, processors imported orange juice concentrate from Belize but said that that country is also experiencing problems supplying the market.
“We can’t throw up our hands in the air. Importation cannot be the answer because the citrus industry in Belize is worse than ours right now,” he said.
McConnell also confirmed that managing citrus groves has become more complex because of the greening disease.
“Citrus is now a very lucrative crop, but it is no longer an option for low-input farmers. Successful growing of citrus requires very intense agricultural practices and significant investment,” he said.
Trade Winds Citrus has been putting in that investment. Since 2017, the company has been replanting oranges and limes with irrigation only, which adds an additional $300,000 per acre to the already high establishment cost of approximately $700,000 per acre, McConnell said.
“The new trees at TWCL look very good, but the rate of replanting is slow due to high cost of establishment and risk of pest, disease, climate, and theft,” he noted.
The citrus shortage is a worldwide problem, with Florida now only producing 30 million boxes per year, down from 300 million in its heyday, Bennett said.
St Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, and St Mary are the main citrus-producing parishes.
Agriculture minister Floyd Green announced last month that more than 4,000 citrus plants had been distributed in Manchester as part of the Government’s strategy to revitalise the industry. The programme is being done in collaboration with the Jamaica Bauxite Institute.
Green also said a lime programme would be rolled out over the next five years.
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