Italian citrus production affected by drought, disease
Italian orange production for the 2014-2015 season is expected to be 24 percent lighter than production from the previous season, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. In addition to a lack of rain, production has been hurt by disease, with about 32,000 hectares of orange groves in Catania and Siracusa affected by CTV.
Similarly, tangerine production for the 2014-2015 season is expected to drop by 15 percent from the previous season's total. Clementine production and mandarin production are also expected to be lighter this season, with drops of 19 percent and 9 percent, respectively, from the previous season's production. Lemon production, on the other hand, is expected to stay relatively stable, with only a two percent increase in 2014-2015 over the previous season's haul.
Source: USDA