Costa Rica 2024-25 marketing year orange production is forecast to rise by 11% to 250,000 metric tons, according to a new report from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
However, the increasing impact of citrus greening is clouding the long-term outlook, the report said.
The USDA said Costa Rica’s 2023-24 orange production, at 225,000 metric tons, was lower than previously expected because of erratic rainfall patterns associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon.
The report said that sources from the Costa Rican government say citrus greening is affecting most production areas of the country and has caused many small producers to abandon orange production or shift their land to other activities.
“Smaller producers have been exiting orange production altogether as citrus greening disease spreads throughout the country, resulting in higher costs of production, lower yields, and lower (or negative) profits,” the report said.
According to the report, oranges are harvested mainly from January to May, with peak production volume in March and April. Costa Rica exports about half of its frozen concentrated orange juice to the U.S., while nearly all fresh oranges are consumed in Costa Rica.
Production outlook
The report said Costa Rica’s citrus area planted should remain unchanged in the marketing year 2024-25, as the effects of citrus greening persist and major growers concentrate on improving the current area through continued replanting and irrigation investments.
Industry sources estimate the area planted in 2024-25 at 51,892 acres, including the area planted on the Nicaraguan side of the border for processing in Costa Rica. Industry sources estimate the total number of orange trees at 7.4 million, the report said.
Commercial orange production in Costa Rica is concentrated in the northern part of Alajuela province (around Los Chiles, Guatuso and Upala) and in the northern part of Guanacaste province (near the border with Nicaragua in an area known as Santa Cecilia). Two companies, TicoFrut and Del Oro, control most of the production and practically all processing of oranges in the country.
Oranges from the Nicaraguan plantations are trucked across the border in Los Chiles for processing at TicoFrut’s plant located in Muelle San Carlos, about 50 miles to the south of the border, the report said. Del Oro’s plantations are in Santa Cecilia, Guanacaste (also near the border with Nicaragua), the report said. Smaller independent growers in other regions of the country — including Acosta (near the
Central Valley) and Nandayure in Guanacaste — mostly sell to the local fresh market.
Smaller independent producers predominantly sell into the domestic fresh fruit market, diverting oranges to the processing market in response to short-term price fluctuations, the report said.
Challenges
Industry sources anticipate greater difficulty securing sufficient labor as well as higher wages for scarce pickers in 2024-25 and possibly in subsequent crops, the report said.
Citrus greening disease was first identified in Costa Rica in 2011 and remains a major concern for producers, the report said. Citrus greening is now endemic throughout the country’s growing areas, increasing costs, decreasing yields, adding uncertainty to future production plans and limiting the growth of production area.
The largest farms have been relatively successful in mitigating the effects of the disease by establishing strict controls, including constant farm surveillance and eradication of affected plants, the report said. Better-capitalized producers use agrochemicals and biological controls (a wasp, tamarixia radiata, that feeds on the Asian citrus psyllid) in their preventive measures. According to industry sources, small- or medium-sized growers whose plantations have been affected by the disease are likely to exit orange production over the medium term given the high cost of controlling the disease.
Major growers are expected to continue directing investments toward replanting existing area with new trees and new patterns, rather than increasing area planted, the report said. Industry sources expect the pattern renovation process to continue through the early 2030s, gradually driving yields higher over that time.
