According to the forecast for the citrus season in the northern hemisphere of 2021/22 released by the World Citrus Organization (WCO), the total output will decline slightly year-on-year. The forecast was announced at the second Global Citrus Congress hosted by Fruitnet Media International, a subsidiary of Asian Fruits, on November 16-17.
According to Philippe Binard, Secretary-General of the World Citrus Organization, based on data from Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States, the northern hemisphere's citrus production is expected to reach 29.34 million tons, compared with the previous season. A decline of 1.27%.
Orange production is expected to fall by 3.45% to 15.48 million tons, and grapefruit (-0.34% to 946,521 tons) and soft oranges (-0.7% to 8.46 million tons) are also slightly down. On the other hand, lemon production is estimated to increase by 5.64% to 4.45 million tons.
In the EU, citrus production in Greece will fall by 9.35%, Spain by 7.74%, and Italy by 2.62%; Tunisia in the southern tip of the Mediterranean is expected to decline (-21.97%), Egypt will remain stable (-0.06%), Israel (+26.63%) , Turkey (+21.85%) and Morocco (+5.53%) increased production; the US citrus production is expected to decrease by 11.79% compared to last year.
“The World Citrus Organization has also contacted the China Chamber of Commerce for Food, Native Produce and Livestock Importers and Exporters and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on citrus issues to collect data in the region,” Binard continued. "China's citrus production is expected to increase by 5.23% this season to 53.9 million tons." Therefore, including China, the total output in the northern hemisphere is expected to be approximately 83.2 million tons.