One Florida citrus industry leader is impressed with Georgia’s burgeoning industry.
Rick Dantzler, Citrus Research and Development Foundation chief operating officer, believes Georgia’s industry can continue to grow as long as it manages citrus greening effectively. He stressed eradication when speaking about citrus greening, also known as huanglongbing (HLB), at the annual meeting on Feb. 25.
“Georgia’s potential is bright because, while they’ve had some isolated finds, HLB is not prevalent, so they have the potential to eradicate the disease. That needs to be their mindset,” Dantzler said. “They do not need to say, ‘Well, even if it breaks out, we’ll be able to live with it, because it gets cold up here, and freezes can kill the Asian citrus psyllid.’ That’s not going to work. Weather is not going to bail them out. They will end up with a really bad situation if their mindset is not eradication.”
Dantzler and Florida growers have lived through the devastation of HLB since it was first discovered in the Sunshine State in 2005. It has drastically reduced yields over time, and Florida’s industry has suffered as a result. While HLB has been observed in some Georgia counties, it is not yet to the level of what’s seen in Florida.
“They have many years before HLB can devastate their industry if it becomes prevalent. They have a long runway to wait on some of this research that is right around the corner and will hopefully bail us out once and for all; the entire citrus industry, regardless of where it’s located,” said Dantzler.
He also noted that Georgia citrus growers will also need to fix the oversupply issue that was prevalent this past season.
“They’re going to have to figure out a way to deal with oversupply,” said Dantzler. “They’re growing more fruit than they can pack right now. They need a processing capacity in some way. I think the private sector will figure that out.”
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