- Author: Ben Faber
This is the summary of a recent article by Allen Morris, a retired University of Florida Extension Economist
Even when a cure for HLB is implemented, unless something is done to stop the decline in orange juice consumption, the citrus-growing part of the industry will become too small to support the infrastructure of input suppliers, harvesters, grove caretakers, etc. necessary for it to function competitively. For example, assume that the lower prices from lower cost production get into the orange juice market evenly over the 2023–24 to 2031–32 nine-year period, reflecting the time required for fruit produced from new plantings of HLB-resistant trees to increasingly impact prices. Ten years after the first plantings, by 2031–32, only 58 million boxes of Florida oranges and no orange juice imports will be needed. In spite of an 11 percent increase in the orange juice market stimulated by the lower prices, the underlying rate of decline in orange juice consumption eliminated its benefit.
The three major orange juice brands will probably continue mainly as juice storing, blending and packaging operations, using orange juice imported primarily from Brazil and Mexico, but also using juice from the small declining volumes of Florida fruit still available to process. However, because of the high costs of processing small volumes of fruit in the large processing plants owned by the brands and the companies processing oranges for the Coca-Cola Company's Minute Maid and Simply brands, it is likely that one of the bulk processors may have an opportunity to process fruit for all three of the brands. This would reduce costs by processing all of the industry's remaining volumes of oranges in one plant, and thus allow that processor to continue to operate. The bulk processors, other than the ones storing and blending juice for the Coca-Cola Company's Minute Maid and Simply brands and the one which processes the remaining volumes of oranges, will soon have no economic reason to exist in Florida. Private labels' orange juice needs will be supplied by imports, primarily from Brazil and Mexico.
Because of the declining U.S. orange juice market, the brands will probably increase their focus on the European orange juice market, which, as was pointed out, is being positioned to grow. There will also probably be a proliferation of exotic juice blends like blueberry mango, pomegranate limeade, strawberry banana, watermelon, berry greens, etc. being introduced by the brands as they begin to position themselves away from citrus.
This conclusion doesn't have to happen. But it is likely to happen if something isn't done to restore the U.S. orange juice market to growth. One way to fund that is to partner with Citrus BR the way AIJN and the European orange buyers/packagers are doing. The U.S. orange juice market is second only to Europe in importance to Brazil as an export market for its orange juice. If approached, the Brazilians would probably be interested in working with the Florida Citrus Commission the way they are working with AIJN to restore growth to the U.S. orange juice market.
For the complete article, go to:
http://citrusindustry.net/2017/09/11/what-is-happening-to-the-orange-juice-market/
- Author: Ben Faber
ITHACA, N.Y. — New clues to how the bacteria associated with citrus greening infect the only insect that carries them could lead to a way to block the microbes' spread from tree to tree, according to a study in Infection and Immunity by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) scientists.
Citrus greening, also known as “huanglongbing,” is a serious disease dramatically affecting citrus production across the world. Trees with this disease all die after only a few years. Citrus greening has been detected in every citrus-producing county in Florida, throughout the southern citrus growing states and in isolated spots in southern California. There is no effective prevention or cure.
The disease is associated with the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, CLas for short, which is spread from tree to tree only by a tiny insect vector—the Asian citrus psyllid. If CLas cannot infect the psyllid, its ability to spread citrus greening is halted.
With the long-term goal of disrupting this CLas-Asian citrus psyllid interaction, research molecular biologist and BTI professor Michelle Heck, with the ARS Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research Laboratory, and BTI researcher Marina Mann focused on an important point: not all psyllids spread CLas equally well.
To be spread by the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) effectively, the bacteria must pass through the cells lining the insect's gut and multiply. Scientists in Heck's lab had previously shown that the gut cells of adult ACP show severe stress responses when infected by CLas. The cell nuclei become fragmented, and some cells react to the point of dying, allowing the bacteria to move out of the psyllid and into the tree.
Now, the researchers have found that, unlike adult psyllids, young psyllid nymphs appear to be resistant to the effects of exposure to CLas, and their nuclei rarely reach the same level of disruption. This means CLas cannot enter psyllid gut cells to multiply.
The next step will be to identify the mechanism for this resistance in the nymphs so that it might be manipulated to also halt the spread of CLas by the adults. An important clue lies in how psyllid nymphs interact with symbiotic bacteria in their gut, especially Wolbachia pipientis.
Many insects are hosts for Wolbachia and often depend on these bacteria for important benefits—much like how human health depends on gut bacteria. In their study, Mann and Heck showed that in psyllid nymphs, Wolbachia and CLas are commonly found within the same cells.
The authors hypothesize that, in accommodating the beneficial bacteria, the nymphs also let in more CLas. This is supported by their finding that CLas levels in psyllid nymphs are strongly correlated with Wolbachia levels. Though this link remains to be tested directly, understanding its mechanism could yield an important target for disrupting CLas-psyllid interaction.
“CLas exploits the way nymph and adult psyllids differ in their guts to gain entry into its insect vector,” Heck said. “We may be able to use this new foothold in our understanding to develop ways to block transmission by insects in the citrus grove.”
If this works, “citrus growers will be in a much better situation in terms of disease control and saving the U.S. citrus industry,” said Dan Dreyer, Chairman of the California Citrus Research Board, which funds this and other research aimed at developing a management strategy for citrus greening.
“There are still many unanswered questions about CLas, how it is acquired and transmitted via the Asian citrus psyllid, and how it causes the disease,” continued Dreyer. “The more we learn about CLas and its vector, the closer we will get to moving citrus production past the threat of citrus greening.”
The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.
—USDA ARS
- Author: Ben Faber
HLB Confirmations The number of trees confirmed as being infected by HLB has reached 520 (300 in Orange County, 217 in Los Angeles County and 3 in Riverside County). All were in residential settings, not commercial groves. The HLB quarantine boundaries and the latest tally of HLB confirmations, updated weekly, is available online at https://citrusinsider.org/maps/. As confirmations increase and spread closer to commercial citrus, it is a good time to consider removing citrus trees not worth the resources required to protect them from ACP and HLB. ACP Areawide Treatments The winter ACP areawide treatment window ended March 16. Please remember to submit your Pesticide Use Reports (PURs) to the County Ag Commissioner's office immediately after treatment to ensure your ACP treatment is recognized. ACP treatment percentages will be calculated in about a month, to allow time for all PURs to be filed. The spring-summer uncoordinated ACP treatment window begins now and continues through July. Although these treatments are not coordinated, psyllid populations need to be kept low to reduce the risk of HLB. Scout/monitor and treat if you see any ACP, and use an ACP-effective material during spring/summer management. Click here to access the University of California recommendations for ACP monitoring. Save the Date The fall 2018 areawide-treatment protocols and schedule will be discussed at a grower workshop on Thursday, April 26, at the Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula. Additional details will be distributed soon. Meetings The Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program will conduct a free crew boss training from 7 to 9 a.m. on March 28 at the Limoneira Visitor Center, 1141 Cummings Road, Santa Paula. Growers and packers are encouraged to send crew bosses, foremen, ranch managers and packinghouse representatives to this hands-on learning experience. Presented in Spanish, these trainings will inform front-line leaders in the field about what they can do to reduce the risk of spreading HLB and ACP at work. Click here for more information and to register. The Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee will meet in Ventura County on Wednesday, May 9. Attendance is free. The CDFA site with agenda, venue, and webinar information is at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/citruscommittee/. On a related note, the CPDPC recently approved the appointment of Ted Grether of Somis to represent coastal citrus growers on the committee. Ted works for the family farming business, Grether Farming Company, growing lemons, avocados and mandarins as an operations manager and administrator. Resources Please direct questions about regulatory or compliance agreement issues to the County Agricultural Commissioner's Office (David Navarro, david.navarro@ventura.org, 805-388-4343) or CDFA (Michael Soltero, Michael.Soltero@cdfa.ca.gov, 805-445-1382). Click here to sign up for the Ventura County ACP-HLB Task Force mailing list. If you need pest control or tree removal referrals, please contact your grower liaisons, Sandra Zwaal and Cressida Silvers. Low- or no-cost tree removal assistance can also be obtained through California Citrus Mutual's ACT NOW program. More information can be found at https://citrusmatters.cropscience.bayer.us/commercial-grower/act-program.
Cressida Silvers (805) 284-3310
Sandra Zwaal (949) 636-7089 |
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- Author: Ben Faber
In the citrus world there is a relative tolerance to the bacteria that causes Huanglongbing, or Citrus Greening. Grapefruit and some orange varieties are very sensitive and some mandarin varieties are much more tolerant, meaning they live longer in the presence of the bacteria. Work is being done to use mandarin juice as a substitute for the traditional glass of orange juice. A recent bulletin out from the University of Florida has this news. This does not mean that Asian Citrus Psyllid and Huanglongbing are any less of a threat to citrus at this point. Just a way of prolonging an industry until true solutions can be found.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Some people like to wake up and drink a glass of fresh Florida orange juice. With the greening disease ravaging Florida's citrus industry, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers want to make orange juice from disease-tolerant fruit.
Huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening as it's commonly called, has destroyed 80 percent of citrus in Florida, a state where citrus is an $8.6 billion-a-year industry, according to UF/IFAS research. About 90 percent of the state's oranges are used to make orange juice, UF/IFAS researchers say.
So it's critical that scientists find sources for orange juice upon which consumers can rely. UF/IFAS researchers have found some mandarins that are tolerant to citrus greening.
In a newly published study, UF/IFAS researchers also found that consumers sense little, if any difference in the smell and taste of certain specific mandarins, compared to oranges.
“We found out what makes orange taste like orange and mandarin taste like mandarin, even though they are very close species,” said Yu Wang, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of food science and human nutrition and lead author of the study.
“If we use greening-tolerant mandarin for orange-juice making, the first thing we need to know is the difference between them,” Wang said. “This will provide more possibilities and flexibilities for the citrus industry in particular in the HLB era.”
In the past, researchers used traditional methods such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to study the flavor differences in orange and mandarin, Wang said. But people's senses of taste and smell are much more sensitive than analytical equipment, so scientists integrated sniffing into the study, she said.
It's important to remember that oranges are descendants of mandarin and pummelos, said Fred Gmitter, a UF/IFAS horticultural sciences professor and co-author of the study. So there's already a lot of mandarin's genetic makeup in an orange.
The problem is that oranges are very sensitive to citrus greening, Gmitter said.
“While we find other selections in the breeding program, mostly mandarin, hold of up a lot better against greening, we are finding some of these selections produce fruit that more closely resemble orange in appearance,” Gmitter said. “But more importantly, here, that they also very closely resemble orange in flavor.”
The study is published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jafc.7b04968?src=recsys
Brad Buck
UF|IFAS
- Author: Ben Faber
HLB confirmations The number of trees in Southern California confirmed to be infected with HLB has risen to 347, distributed across 16 communities in four counties. So far, all are in residential plantings, not in commercial groves. As HLB detections increase and spread closer to commercial citrus, it is a good time to consider removing citrus trees that are uncared for or not worth the resources required to protect them from ACP and HLB. The distribution of HLB confirmations, updated weekly, can be found on https://citrusinsider.org/maps/. Winter ACP area-wide cycle As a reminder, due to the Thomas Fire the treatment window for psyllid management areas in West Ventura and the Ojai Valley (PMAs 44-50) was delayed until Feb. 23-March 16. If you wish to confirm your treatment window or interim treatment percentages, or obtain referrals for pest-control or tree-removal services, please contact your grower liaisons, Sandra Zwaal and Cressida Silvers. Low- or no-cost tree removal assistance can also be obtained through California Citrus Mutual's Citrus Matters ACT NOW program. More information can be found at https://citrusmatters.cropscience.bayer.us/commercial-grower/act-program. HLB in the news ABC7 news and The San Bernardino Sun recently picked up a story regarding a San Bernardino County nursery caught up in the HLB quarantine, which led to destruction of its inventory of citrus trees. ABC News7 article with clip: http://abc7.com/food/ie-nurserys-citrus-trees-to-be-destroyed-by-ca-agriculture-department/2959173/ The Sun article: https://www.sbsun.com/2018/01/19/more-than-4000-citrus-trees-destroyed-while-disagreement-between-bloomington-nurseries-state-continues/ Meetings UC Riverside & Citrus Research Board Citrus Day for the Industry will be on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at UC Riverside. The deadline to register is Jan. 30. Registration is $35 and includes lunch. Online registration is available at https://form.jotform.com/80016278039152. Click here to download the program. The Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee's operations and outreach subcommittees will meet Wednesday, Feb. 7, at the Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside. Attendance is free. The CDFA website with agenda, venue, and webinar information is at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/citruscommittee/. If you have any questions, please contact one of the grower liaisons: Cressida Silvers (805) 284-3310 Sandra Zwaal (949) 636-7089 |