Florida Citrus: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
December 1, 2007 The University of Florida (UF), Florida Grower, and Florida’s citrus industry have grown up together and made remarkable strides in the past century. I’d like to take a moment to consider how far we’ve come.
One hundred years ago, Teddy Roosevelt was president, Oklahoma became the 46th U.S. state, and Florida Grower published its first issue, serving an already thriving Florida agricultural industry.
Growth Of The Industry
Sweet oranges, grown in Florida since 1565, were the state’s primary citrus crop, though grapefruit had been marketed since the 1880s. Fruit was picked by hand and sold fresh. Early groves were located in North and Central Florida, planted near rivers to facilitate transportation by boat to northeastern cities. In the 1860s, railways made it faster and easier to ship fruit, prompting growers to expand.
The demand for Florida citrus was great, and by the 1894-1895 season, production reached an estimated 6 million boxes. But that winter, devastating freezes destroyed virtually the entire crop. By 1907, production was returning to early-1890s levels.
Reducing Risk
Then, as now, diseases were a constant concern. One of the most serious was scaly bark. Now known as citrus leprosis, this mite-borne viral disease attacks sweet orange varieties, causing lesions on leaves, twigs, and fruit, and long-term decline in tree quality and yield.
It was first described in 1907 by H.S. Fawcett, a UF assistant plant pathologist. Initially, the disease was largely confined to Pinellas County, but by 1925 it was established across Central Florida. Fawcett continued his work, and eventually wettable sulfur was used to combat the mites that transmitted the disease.
Biocontrol was already under study at UF as well. Fawcett developed methods to cultivate fungi that attack insects, and for a time the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station offered them for sale as a whitefly control option.
Today And Tomorrow
In the 100 years that followed, technology brought achievements those early growers could only dream of. Frozen orange juice concentrate, developed in part by UF researchers, sent production past the 200 million box mark. Advances in fertilization, irrigation, and pest management improved yield and profitability.
Today, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) personnel are developing new ways to harness cutting-edge science, such as abscission chemicals to make mechanical harvesting more practical, microirrigation systems to save water, and genetic engineering to produce disease-resistant citrus varieties.
We face challenges like citrus canker and greening, rising production costs, and competition from foreign countries. But I know Florida citrus growers are a resilient breed. Their determination to succeed has been constant throughout the state’s history.
Something else will not change. That is, the IFAS commitment to meeting industry needs. Our Extension faculty are ready to educate and solve problems, our research programs prepared to tackle new challenges, and our College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is educating the next generation of citrus experts.
One hundred years ago, citrus farming was vital to Florida. Today, it’s even more important, providing more than $9 billion to the state’s economy each year. Citrus trees grow more than oranges and grapefruit — they grow economic prosperity, and all of our residents benefit.
At the University of Florida we’re proud to be a part of citrus’ heritage of success, and we pledge to do our part to ensure that in 2107 Florida Grower can look back on another hundred years of accomplishment.
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