Florida's citrus grower association is optimistic a recent outbreak of Oriental fruit fly has been brought under control and should not affect the coming season, which is due to kick off in the second half of October.

The pest is capable of feeding and laying eggs upon more than 400 different types of fruit crops, and was first spotted in Miami-Dade County in late August. 

Dozens of specimens have been caught since then, and The Miami Herald reported the outbreak could cost the Sunshine State around US$1.6 billion.

However, Florida Citrus Mutual communications manager Andrew Meadows told www.freshfruitportal.com the pest no longer appeared to pose a major risk to the fruit industry.

"We're pretty confident that they caught it and contained it," he said.

"The Florida Department of Agriculture and Commissioner [Adam] Putnam is on top of this. We're certainly concerned when any sort of invasive pest is found, but we’re cautiously optimistic that it’s been contained."

He added pest outbreaks such as this reiterated the need for strong agricultural protection efforts in the state's ports and airports.

"Florida's really a sentinel state. We're a trade hub, we're a tourist destination, and therefore the danger points for invasive pests and disease are numerous in our state," Meadows said.

"So both at the federal and the state levels we need to remain vigilant to keep these things away from our multi-billion dollar agriculture industry - not just citrus, but all the other fruits and vegetables that are grown in Florida."

Meadows said a 'quality crop' was on the way for this coming citrus season, although production numbers had been affected in the fight against citrus greening disease (or HLB) over the last decade.

"We won’t have the USDA's [U.S. Department of Agriculture] official production estimate until October 9, but we have such a large growing area that we hear different things from different growers," he said.

"Some have good fruit count, good leaves on the trees, it's just a matter of whether that fruit stays on the tree."

The harvest for early orange varieties will likely begin around mid to late October, according to Meadows.

He added the spread of HLB throughout Florida meant citrus production had become much more 'intensive' and farming was now in a 'completely different environment'.

Meadows said he was optimistic the industry had some bactericides that could help fight HLB bacteria in citrus trees, and Florida Citrus Mutual was current working to get those registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The first large-scale genetically modified (GM) citrus trials could also begin next spring in the state, as a possible solution to the disease. However, Meadows said GM citrus was 'way off' becoming a commercial reality.

"If we find something, then we have to get it approved, and then in the back-end there's consumer acceptance, so that's a really challenging attitude for us," he said.

Good domestic market opportunities

Market expectations for the 2015-16 season are looking up for fresh fruit, according to the representative.

"With all of the environmental challenges we face with disease and weather there are good markets here in Florida," Meadows said.

"We still have a lot of equity in the market place, and people look for our Navels, they looks for our grapefruit, they look out for our tangerines and specialty citrus, so there are good market opportunities here domestically.

"For our grapefruit the Far East is a good market, Japan, Korea, they seek out Florida grapefruit. It’s a high value commodity at the retail level."

He added the juicing industry, for which some 95% of Florida's oranges are grown, had been struggling over the last decade.

"There’s so much competition in the beverage aisle, and because our production is down retail prices have increased, so that’s affected sales.

"It’s a challenging environment for orange juice right now. But we still believe in our healthy Florida home-grown product."

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