California citrus growers and marketers say the current navel orange crop looks promising in volume and quality, one season after one of their smallest crops in years.
The forecast shows Florida Oranges at 47 million boxes, down 11% from last season, Florida Grapefruit at 3.8 million boxes, down 8%, and Specialty Citrus at 900,000 boxes, UP 2%.
Citrus growers facing losses estimated to exceed $1 billion hurricane Irma. Farmers are planting more cover crops. $45-million research project that promises to boost crop yields 20% by improving photosynthetic efficiency.