When I think Florida, the first 3 things that come to my mind are BEACH, OCEAN, and CITRUS FRUIT.
Grapefruit.
Tangerines.
And oranges.
Delicious, sweet, juicy oranges.
Such an important part of Florida.
Here in Illinois, we put Abe Lincoln on our license plates.
In Florida, they don't honor a man. They honor a fruit:
Oranges are king down there.
So when I read this, it shocked me:
“Unless they find a cure for this disease, there will not be citrus in this state. It’s going to have a major impact to the state, as far as the interior of the state goes.”
The disease is called greening, and it's deadly:
Their groves had been infected by the Asian citrus psyllid, a tiny bug that carries a bacteria which attacks a tree's vascular system, eventually killing it. The disease, which showed up in Florida in 2005, has created a phenomenon known as citrus greening that is decimating the orange and grapefruit industries in the state.
Things are getting bad down there:
Florida may produce as few as 89 million boxes of oranges this year, forecasters say, down 63 percent from the 242 million boxes the state produced a decade ago.
Plus, there have been other things happen that have taken a hit on the Florida citrus industry:
- freezes
- hurricanes
- another disease called canker
- housing development
- decrease in orange juice consumption
What a mess folks.
Read the full story about Florida citrus greening here:
Entire groves. Dead.
Out for now......
Matt