Following a major depression in 2011, when production fell by 36% and the area sown by 12%, exports in 2012 returned to traditional levels.
"The recovery is due to higher productivity per area planted, because last year there was still a drop in the number of hectares planted", reported Nacion.com.
Data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), reveals that the citrus harvest increased from 252,000 tons in 2010 to 159,406 tons in 2011, but in 2012 it rose again to 280,000 tons.
Given the great threat to citrus fruits posed by the Huanglongbing plague, a project is being planned to strengthen control of the pest and for the implementation of integrated pest management for citrus fruits.
From a statement from the International Regional Organization for Animal Health (OIRSA):
The Government of China (Taiwan) and the OIRSA have signed a cooperation agreement to strengthen technical and financial control of the Citrus Huanglongbing pest and integrated pest management in the region.
A project being developed in Zacapa, eastern Guatemala, seeks to diversify the species of citric fruits grown.
Guatemala's Rural Development Program (PNDR in Spanish) is to invest more than $40,000 in setting up a 73 hectare citric fruit plantation that will benefit 582 families in 20 local communities, announced Byron Paz, PNDR regional coordinator.
The Tropical Agricultural Research and Education Center (CATIE) established the first improved citrus strain bank.
With 330 trees, corresponding to 66 improved varieties of citrus, brought by the State Sanitary Service, CATIE established the first citrus improved gene bank in Costa Rica, aiming at contributing to the development of citrus production in the country.
Orange scraps show the promise of producing ethanol at reasonable prices and Central America, a leading producer of citrus, can benefit.
For several years, the Agricultural Research Service of the Department of Agriculture in the United States has been carrying out a project to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of producing ethanol from orange juice processing leftovers which are now almost given away.