There's a shadow hanging over the Sunshine State and its most famous product.

It's called Huanglongbing, a bacterial plant disease that kills citrus trees and warps the fruits they produce, including orange trees. Thanks to this disease, Florida's 2014-15 citrus crop is expected to be the smallest the state has seen in 50 years.

Huanglongbing, commonly known in the United States as "citrus greening," attacks orange trees at their roots, where it can lay dormant for years. Next comes yellowing of the trees' leaves, and eventually the production of unripened, misshapen oranges. The trees die within a few years of being infected.

The bacteria was discovered in southern China in 1919, and has since spread to 40 nations across the globe. Huanglongbing is transmitted by a tree-dwelling tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid, which feeds on citrus trees' leaves. The bug was found in Florida in 1998, perhaps transported unknowingly from Asia on tree products. The first tree infected with Huanglongbing in Florida was reported in 2005.

The bacteria has swept through Florida's $9 billion citrus industry, which includes oranges, grapefruits, and tangelos, contributing to smaller outputs each year. Between 2006 and 2011, reduced orange-juice production has led to the loss of about $3.6 billion in revenues and 6,611 jobs, according to a 2012 study from the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences funded by Florida Citrus Mutual, the state's largest citrus-grower organization. The disease has been reported in more than 440 locations in 11 counties, and more than 80 percent of the trees in the states' top citrus production groves are infected.

Moreover, the spread of Huanglongbing is not slowing down; it is threatening to wipe out more than three-quarters of the state's citrus crop—and more of the industry's 75,000 jobs—in the next few years, if a solution is not found.

The state's citrus industry has poured $90 million into researching fixes, which range from genetically modified trees and a cocktail of pesticides to the deployment of psyllid-eating wasps. At the national level, the Agriculture Department will receive $125 million for research over the next five years through this year's farm bill.

Huanglongbing has overrun orange groves in Brazil, China, and several Asian nations. No country has yet eradicated the disease. But Brazil, the world's largest grower of oranges, and China are not as likely to feel the squeeze as much as Florida, the second largest grower, would. Orange production is expected to grow in both countries, according to USDA forecasts, while the U.S. will see a decline. A health-conscious shift in the American diet away from sugary juices has not helped the industry, contributing to lower sales of orange juice each year.

Florida is the top producer of the country's citrus fruits. California, which ranks second, has not reported a case of Huanglongbing. But the pest that causes the disease was discovered there in 2008, prompting fears that it's only a matter of time before California's groves are sickened, too.

Source - http://www.nationaljournal.com/