Featured • March 5, 2025 Central Florida Ag News Link to Orginal Post

by RYAN MILEJCZAK

The orange is by far Florida’s most emblematic crop. It’s our official state fruit, appearing on license plates, in the names of our towns and cities, and much more.  

It was the Spanish who first brought oranges to Florida in the 1500s. As legend holds, it was Ponce De Leon himself who brought them over. 

Commercial production in the Sunshine State didn’t begin until nearly 300 years later, when the development of rail allowed oranges to be shipped nationwide. By the 1970s, about 200 million boxes were produced annually. 

That production has dropped dramatically in the past 20 years as Florida orange growers have faced significant challenges. While a number of factors complicate matters for growers, none has had as large of an impact as citrus greening. 

Greening is caused by a bacterial infection transmitted by tiny bugs known as psyllids. It causes stunted plant growth and leads to bitter, irregular fruit. Since its arrival in Florida in 2005, it has been the main culprit of the contraction of the industry in the past 20 years. 

In the 2023-24 season, the state produced 18 million boxes, up from 16 million in the 2022-23 season. This represents a value of $161,879,000 for the Florida economy.  

The 2024-2025 season is still ongoing, but the USDA forecast projects 11.5 million boxes, a 4% reduction from last season. Much of this reduction is likely due to the impact of Hurricane Milton, which destroyed crops across the state. While all this may paint a dire picture for the orange industry, it’s not all doom and gloom, thanks to new advancements from scientists at UF/IFAS.

UF/IFAS is aiming to create citrus that is resistant to greening with a genetically edited citrus tree. By inserting a gene from a bacterium known as Bacillus thuringiensis, the orange tree becomes able to produce a protein that kills psyllid nymphs that feed on the plant. In turn, the nymphs cannot make it to adulthood to lay eggs, thus severely limiting their population. While the project is still in its early stages, it presents a shining beacon of hope for citrus growers across Florida and the nation at large.

This is far from the only project working to beat greening. Another project seeks to fight greening using an orange tree’s own natural microbiome. 

The project is a collaboration between scientists at the University of Florida and Texas A&M. The scientists are studying the natural antimicrobial compounds of those trees that are least affected by greening. The aim of the study is to find compounds that could be sprayed on the plant to treat greening. 

With these and other advancements, it’s all hands on deck as industry experts fight to keep Florida’s orange industry aliv