There’s good news for grapefruit lovers in Texas. According to an article in Southwest Farm Press, the Texas grapefruit crop is looking good this year despite early concerns over citrus greening disease.
The disease, also referred to as HLB, was first spotted in the Lone Star State last January. Fortunately, many of Texas’ citrus growers were already involved in a management program that allowed them to minimize the spread of the disease that destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres of citrus in Florida.
Although grapefruit production for the nation was forecast to be down this year due to production losses from California and Florida, officials say grapefruit production in Texas is improving with production at 211,000 tons. That’s a 10 percent increase from last year’s crop which took a hit due to the drought.
According to the article, overall quality of the grapefruit in Texas this year is excellent with less cosmetic deficiencies. This year’s crop is also expected to be a bit smaller than usual due to dry weather conditions.