Disease and climate change slash Brazil's orange output - Fruitnet
Disease and climate change slash Brazil’s orange output | Article | Fruitnet
Brazilian orange farmers are braced for their smallest crop in 36 years in 2024/25, as they grapple with the impact of climate change and citrus greening.
According to research centre Fundecitrus and orange juice exporter association CitrusBR, the two main orange producing areas in the states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais are set to harvest 232.38m (40.8kg) cartons this year, a decrease of 24.36 per cent on the previous season. That would be the lowest since 1988/89, when production reached 214m cartons.
Brazil is the world’s largest producer and exporter of orange juice, accounting for three-quarters of all exports. After four consecutive poor seasons, global stock levels have been at historic lows, pushing prices to record highs last year.
Fundecitrus head Juliano Ayres commented: “The number surprised us. Climate effects have strongly affected the industry. For citrus production to remain competitive we must defeat greening – and we will”.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.