High prices, strong production help citrus farmers

The news from the citrus industry continues to be upbeat. With the processing of oranges due to end on June thirtieth, the Citrus Growers Association is reporting a significant rise in revenues, with the final price estimated at just over nine dollars per box, or a dollar, fifty-three per pound solid. This is up over a dollar per box from previous projections. Production is also above expectations with an anticipated harvest of six million boxes of orange and one point six million boxes of grapefruit. This total is just three hundred thousand boxes short of last year’s record harvest. Reasons for the buoyant prices are continued production shortfalls in Florida, due to hurricanes, disease and urban development, as well as disease problems in Brazil, the world’s largest citrus producer. These market conditions are expected to persist for the next two or three years, giving hard pressed Belizean farmers the chance to recover from many lean years, during which they amassed high levels of debt. The same goes for the processing company, Citrus Products of Belize, now owned by the growers, which should show a profit for the second consecutive year following close to a decade of losses. If there is any uncertainty in the industry, it involves the governance of the Citrus Growers Association. A special general meeting has been called for Friday morning in which the C.G.A.?s committee of management is seeking to remove one of its own directors, Denzil Jenkins. Jenkins, one of the stalwarts of the industry, has long been a thorn in the side of the larger growers who have traditionally run the Association. His private and public accusations against his fellow board members have finally prompted them to call for his head.