Created: 04/21/2014 6:45 AM WHEC.com
A citrus disease is putting the squeeze on orange crops.
The gnat-sized Asian citrus psyllid is spreading a disease that has devastated Florida’s orange crop, which is expected to be the worst in nearly 30 years and sent juice prices soaring.
The insect is infecting citrus trees across the sunshine state with citrus greening disease which causes fruit to taste bitter and fall from trees too soon.
Citrus greening disease has become such a problem this year that the U.S. government has lowered its forecast for the upcoming harvest four times.
The latest figures, published earlier this month by the U.S. Department of agriculture, predict production of 110-million boxes of fruit, or roughly 4.95-million tons. That is 18-percent less than last year, and the lowest since 1985.