On Wednesday 9 March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that its estimate of the 2015-2016 Florida orange crop increased 3 percent to 71 million boxes. In comparison, during the 2014-2015 season, Florida produced 96.8 million boxes of oranges.
The USDA said a 2 million box rise in Valencias to 35 million accounted for the increase. Early and mid-season varieties stayed at 36 million boxes.
"We are still in a crisis situation right now in regards to battling the HLB [citrus greening] disease although this slight increase is welcome good news," said Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president/CEO of Lakeland-based Florida Citrus Mutual.
Citrus greening is endemic to Florida and has reduced production more than 50 percent over the past decade.
Meanwhile, the USDA's estimate of the 2015-2016 Florida grapefruit crop also rose slightly to 10.7 million boxes from 10.5 million. Specialty citrus decreased to 1.8 million boxes.
The Florida citrus industry creates a $10.8 billion annual economic impact, employing nearly 62,000 people.
