Demand for Citrus Products Remain Strong in CARICOM Region

Louis Zabaneh

During Friday’s house meeting, Doctor Zabaneh spoke about the prospects of a recovery of the citrus industry and the efforts needed to revitalize the sector.  Here’s more from the Dangriga Area Rep.

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Area Representative, Dangriga

“Recently, over seven hundred thousand trees have been planted.  That equates to over four thousand, seven hundred acres of new plants that have gone into the ground and this planting continues.  That is love for the industry.  If you don‘t have people who love something then it will certainly die.  But as the area representative for Dangriga, Sarawee and Hope Creek, I am very, very pleased to say that our farmers are stepping up and that we are receiving the support from this Briceno administration.  Mr. Speaker, the diversification that‘s occurring in our area will see and has already seen the beginning of new plantings in pineapples, new plantings in coconut, interest in sour sop and other fruits that CPBL will now be processing, so that CPBL evolves now from a citrus only juice producer to an array of juices.  Investments are being made for a very strong rebound, and I want to close by touching on the world market.  You can go and check the records and you will see that the largest U.S. producing state is Florida for juiced citrus and there‘s been a steady decline in the acreage in that state.  Therefore, overall, especially in our region, the supply of citrus in North America, in the Caribbean, has been consistently going down, but demand is strong, demand is very strong, especially in our CARICOM Region.”