The recent U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) annual report on Brazilian citrus included updates on citrus greening disease, production and planted area.
CITRUS GREENING
The report noted that new chemicals and practices have been developed to fight citrus greening, a major cause of recent production declines. Those chemicals and practices include a natural repellent called caryophyllene, a non-chemical technique called kaolin and the use of vigorous rootstocks.
According to Fundecitrus data from September 2024, the average incidence of orange trees with greening in the Citrus Belt was 44.35%, or approximately 90.36 million trees. The Citrus Belt is the northwest of São Paulo and the western part of Minas Gerais, known as Triângulo Mineiro. This rate is 16.5% higher than in 2023, when incidence was estimated at 38.06%.
Fundecitrus expects the incidence of greening to rise in the short term, though likely at a slower rate compared to previous years. This is primarily attributed to a decline in the citrus greening-spreading psyllid population in 2024 compared to the previous year, as well as the establishment of new groves in peripheral regions of the Citrus Belt. The risk of the disease is lower in those peripheral areas.
PRODUCTION
Brazilian orange production is down due to drought and extremely high temperatures. In fields without a robust irrigation system, production was significantly adversely impacted, USDA FAS reported. Irrigated areas were less impacted; however, they also struggled due to a decrease in well water.
Dry weather has reduced fruit production for five consecutive seasons in the Citrus Belt.
See the latest orange production forecast from Brazil here.
PLANTINGS
USDA/FAS forecasts the area planted for oranges at 590,000 hectares, the same as the prior year.
Brazil has about 5,000 orange grove properties. Most are large producers with high productivity.
See the full USDA FAS report on Brazilian citrus here.
Source: USDA FAS
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