"US (FL): Citrus industry "not dead but sick"
The effect this year was a drop of between 5-10%.
Recently, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, Adam Putnam, spoke bluntly about the problem, saying "if we don't do something, in five years we are not going to recognize the citrus industry."
Collectively, citrus growers have spent roughly six million of their own money on research to find a cure, but more work needs to be done.
Putnam is pushing the governor to allocate another nine million in his budget.
This figure represents a fraction of the total industry value, which stands at 9 billion.
This Wednesday, hundreds of growers will meet in Lake Alfred for a conference to discuss the citrus greening research. The farmers will also discuss new experiments to fight the disease.
Source: abcactionnews.com
