Word: citrus
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Racing to save the citrus industry from a deadly canker
Like Job, the long-suffering citrus farmers of Florida have cause to wonder why they are being punished. At Christmas time last year a harsh freeze wiped out 10 million trees statewide. This spring the notorious Medfly appeared in Dade County and began devouring fruit. Now, with the wholesale price of orange juice already 27% higher than last year, the worst yet has come. Last week scientists confirmed that a deadly new strain of citrus canker, a bacterial disease that is harmless to humans but defoliates and kills trees, has swept from Ward's Nursery, a citrus farm near...
...disaster threatens to paralyze the $1.2 billion Florida citrus business. Says Stephen Poe, a plant pathologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture: "Of every disease that affects the citrus industry, canker is the most destructive." In a swift, ruthless effort to halt the epidemic, the state began emergency burning. It is the only reliable means of eradicating the disease. Ward's and the other four nurseries are being entirely torched; so are any seedlings recently purchased from those nurseries, along with any surrounding trees. By year's end many millions of plants will have been incinerated, leaving dozens...
...most important issue for Poles today is the country's desperate economic situation. I found drab stores stocked but lacking variety. Citrus fruits and juices were unavailable. Sugar, butter, and meat are rationed; a cup of coffee cost as much as a medium-priced meal. Lines at meat stores often stretched through the door. I routinely noticed 10 or 15 people lingering outside two hours before a meat store opened...
...sour-orange tree in the backyard of a home in the Little Havana district, a state agriculture inspector had discovered one female and three male Mediterranean fruit flies in a trap. The medfly, as it is known, is a dreaded pest that could devastate Florida's billion-dollar citrus and vegetable industry if allowed to spread. Said Conner: "We're very concerned. This is obviously an infestation...