Orange Crop to Grow by 36 Percent in Brazil’s Major Producing Regions

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Orange harvesting has begun in the main producing areas in Brazil. The climate helped, and the production of fruit should be 36 percent higher in São Paulo and Minas Gerais, the leading states in the sector.

More than 388 million boxes are expected to be delivered this harvest, 21 percent more than the average for the last ten years. A significant factor behind this great harvest was the control of citrus greening (HLB) disease.

“Eighty percent of orchards were renovated, and there was also greater control of diseases and pests, says Vinícius Trombin, research coordinator of the Fund for the Defense of Citrus Production (Fundecitrus).

The cultivated area fell one percent in relation to the previous year, although productivity hit a record: 1,051 boxes per hectare, on average.

On the farm of rural producer Brayan Palhares, work is intense on the 1,100-hectare property in Pirassununga, in the interior of São Paulo. There are 450,000 orange trees, most of which are of the Pera Rio variety.

Palhares expects to harvest 1.1 million boxes, an increase of around thirty percent compared to last year.

Half of the production goes to industry and the other half to the market. However, with more oranges this season, he doesn’t expect an increase in price.