The Tropical Fruit Forum
Citrus => Citrus General Discussion => Topic started by: Millet on March 09, 2017, 01:25:07 PM
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According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Florida grapefruit acreage has dropped from more than 124,000 acres in 1970 to about 40,300 acres in the most recent season
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That's tragic and scary.
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There seems to be some hope of lessening HLB damage, if not of eradicating the infection - http://www.growingproduce.com/citrus/an-alternative-approach/ (http://www.growingproduce.com/citrus/an-alternative-approach/)
Other factors have contributed to loss of grove acreage - such as a demand for property development as Florida's population tripled over the same time period. Damage from citrus canker and hurricanes also played their part in pushing land from agriculture to commercial/residential - http://flcitrusmutual.com/render.aspx?p=/news/heraldtribune_chapter11_121708.aspx. (http://flcitrusmutual.com/render.aspx?p=/news/heraldtribune_chapter11_121708.aspx.) It isn't just citrus either. All of Florida agriculture seems to be in decline - http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/agriculture/dying-on-the-vine-floridas-shriveling-agriculture-industry-cant-shake-the/2305711 (http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/agriculture/dying-on-the-vine-floridas-shriveling-agriculture-industry-cant-shake-the/2305711)