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Description
Citrus refers to the group of fruit which include the orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit and tangerine. Citrus fruits are notable for their fragrance, partly due to flavonoids and limonoids contained in the rind, and most are juice-laden. The juice contains a high quantity of citric acid giving them their characteristic sharp flavour. Many species are cultivated for their fruit, which is eaten fresh, pressed for juice, or preserved in jams, marmalades and pickles.
Citrus trees hybridise very readily. Thus all commercial citrus cultivation uses trees produced by grafting the desired fruiting cultivars onto rootstocks selected for disease resistance and hardiness.
Current Situation
Citrus is the largest category of fruit produced regionally with an estimated total of 595,789 metric tonnes in 2006 and represented 40% of total fruit production, which was dominated by Belize and Jamaica.
With regard to fruit imports into CARICOM in 2006, citrus came in fourth with 10%. And in the case of exports, citrus was the third main export commodity at 6%, preceded by banana and papaya. The main exporters were Belize and Jamaica.
Table: CARICOM Citrus Production (Tonnes) 2012 - 2013 (Source: FAOSTAT)
Country |
Item |
2012 |
flag |
2013 |
flag |
2012 |
2013 |
Avg 2012/13 |
% |
Bahamas |
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
20,402 |
|
21,143 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Lemons and limes |
3,109 |
|
2,779 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
3,661 |
|
3,662 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Tangerines, mandarins, clementines, satsumas |
720 |
|
738 |
Im |
27,892 |
28,322 |
28,107 |
4.6 |
Belize |
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
34,988 |
|
25,426 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
245,258 |
|
230,000 |
F |
280,246 |
255,426 |
267,836 |
43.6 |
Dominica |
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
13,500 |
F |
13,912 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Lemons and limes |
1,400 |
F |
1,363 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
6,250 |
F |
6,552 |
Im |
21,150 |
21,827 |
21,489 |
3.5 |
Guyana |
Fruit, citrus nes |
700 |
F |
724 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
1,050 |
F |
1,080 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Lemons and limes |
1,259 |
|
986 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
1,306 |
|
2,581 |
|
4,315 |
5,371 |
4,843 |
0.8 |
Haiti |
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
7,200 |
F |
7,200 |
F |
|
|
|
|
|
Lemons and limes |
40,000 |
F |
40,000 |
F |
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
26,500 |
F |
26,500 |
F |
|
|
|
|
|
Tangerines, mandarins, clementines, satsumas |
12,000 |
F |
12,000 |
F |
85,700 |
85,700 |
85,700 |
13.9 |
Jamaica |
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
44,300 |
F |
44,500 |
F |
|
|
|
|
|
Lemons and limes |
26,500 |
F |
26,500 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
91,657 |
|
83,145 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tangerines, mandarins, clementines, satsumas |
8,250 |
F |
7,263 |
Im |
170,707 |
161,408 |
166,058 |
27.0 |
Montserrat |
Lemons and limes |
100 |
F |
100 |
F |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Saint Lucia |
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
1,100 |
F |
1,142 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Lemons and limes |
285 |
F |
291 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
500 |
F |
496 |
Im |
1,885 |
1,929 |
1,907 |
0.3 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
205 |
|
171 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Lemons and limes |
972 |
|
1,036 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
1,375 |
|
1,488 |
Im |
2,552 |
2,695 |
2,624 |
0.4 |
Suriname |
Fruit, citrus nes |
1,195 |
|
2,436 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
2,917 |
|
3,667 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lemons and limes |
219 |
|
265 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
15,566 |
|
17,502 |
|
19,897 |
23,870 |
21,884 |
3.6 |
Trinidad and Tobago |
Fruit, citrus nes |
6,000 |
F |
6,144 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Grapefruit (inc. pomelos) |
2,000 |
F |
1,576 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Lemons and limes |
2,300 |
F |
2,373 |
Im |
|
|
|
|
|
Oranges |
4,000 |
F |
3,838 |
Im |
14,300 |
13,931 |
14,116 |
2.3 |
TOTAL |
|
|
|
|
|
628,744 |
600,579 |
614,662 |
100.0 |
Key: F = FAO estimate, lm = FAO data based on imputation methodology
The CARICOM Fresh and Processed Market Opportunity Study states that oranges dominate citrus production in the Caribbean, making up more than two thirds of all citrus produced. The crop is both sold whole and processed as juice in concentrated and single strength forms.
Production is concentrated in Belize and to lesser extent in:
Oranges are exported both as whole fruit and as juice. However, only about 5% of the CARICOM’s production is exported as whole fruit. In a few countries, a substantial proportion of the crop is processed and the value of regional juice exports significantly exceeds that of whole fruit exports by a factor of three or more.
Regional imports of orange juice are considerable, averaging 14,000 metric tonnes per annum. However, most of this is imported from within the region, which is therefore a net exporter of orange juice.
Grapefruit production, at approximately one-third of orange by volume, is distributed amongst a range of countries and export volumes are effectively concentrated in two countries. The Bahamas led in the export of whole fruit accounting for 92% of exports, while Belize accounts for 99% of all grapefruit and pomelo juice exports.
Business Case
Why invest in citrus production?
Citrus producers/processors
Description
Papaya (Carica papaya), also known as paw paw, is popularly grown in the tropics and is adapted to diverse soils and climates. The fruit has a sweet taste and good flavours, and is high in vitamin C and other nutrients. It is also versatile, with unripe fruit cooked as a vegetable much like a summer squash, or used in cubes for salads.
Current situation
According to the findings of a document entitled “The Papaya Industry in CARICOM: Competitiveness and Industry Development Strategies”, the papaya industry in CARICOM is “relatively underdeveloped. The volume of production is commercially significant in only a few countries, with the most important being Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago.”
Papaya, as a significant export industry, is limited mainly to Belize and Jamaica, with exports in both cases dominated by few large producers /exporters. The Belizean Papaya industry is the largest in CARICOM, ranking second to Mexico in terms of the volume of exports to the US market with production being concentrated among three large producers.
One of the constraints identified in a Market Intelligence Report on papaya is Caribbean suppliers/producers’ inability to consistently supply large volumes of high quality papaya to the US, Canada and UK markets.
Also these markets appear to have a stronger preference for smaller single serve fruits and in this regard there is a marked preference for the Solo and Solo Sunrise varieties. These have a competitive edge over other larger varieties such as Maridol and Red Flesh.
Another constraint facing the region’s papaya industry is the state of development of the domestic market. This market remains underexploited, particularly the tourism component. So too is the development of the value added aspect of the industry.
Table: Papaya Production (Tonnes) (Source: FAOSTAT)
Country* |
2012 |
2013 |
Bahamas |
540 |
540 |
Belize |
20,000 |
26,000 |
Dominica |
80 |
82 |
Guyana |
521 |
525 |
Haiti |
100 |
100 |
Jamaica |
6,455 |
8,382 |
Suriname |
264 |
660 |
Trinidad and Tobago |
1,027 |
1,080 |
TOTAL |
28,987 |
37,369 |
*Data not available for other countries
Business case
Why invest in papaya production?
Description
Golden apple, or June plum, botanical name Spondias dulcis, is a member of the Anacardiaceae family, which is a family of flowering plants that bear drupe fruits, which includes mango, poison ivy and cashews.
Also known as Pommecythere, Yellow Egg and Jamaican June plum, golden apple differs completely to American, Japanese and European plums which are thin skinned stone fruits and members of the Prunus genus and Rosaceaa family. The single most common denominator between golden apples and true plums is that the fruits both bear a central pit.
Golden apple has a creamy colored semi-acidic firm flesh with flavors of pineapple, mango and apple. When mature it reveals aromas of sweet summer melons and its skin eventually ripens from lime green to hues of rose and orange.
The fruit of the tree tends to be in season in the early and latter parts of the year, namely January and February and then July to December.
Golden apples are commonly used to make jams, chutneys and juices. They are used as a pickling ingredient and a traditional accompaniment to ice cream and yogurt. They complement:
Current Situation
Some 3,000 metric tonnes of golden apple is produced in the region annually. In Grenada, according to the Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB), golden apple is the second main export fruit (preceded by soursop) and accounts for 6% of fruit production there.
Business Case
Why invest in golden apple production?
Description
The banana and plantain family are botanical berries that have been used for starch for a long time. The fruit is variable in size, colour and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved with soft flesh rich in starch and covered with rind which may be green, yellow, red, purple or brown when ripe. Bananas are sweet, particularly from the Cavendish group, while plantains are starchier, less sweet, and are eaten cooked rather than eaten raw.
Bananas constitute a major staple food crop in developing countries. The most common edible banana is Cavendish which may be unviable for large scale cultivation in the next 10 – 20 years. Cavendish plants are all genetically identical which them vulnerable to diseases such as Panama Disease and Black Sigatoka disease.
World banana production amounts to around 81 million tonnes per year. Due to the climatic conditions required to grow them, production is mainly concentrated in developing countries in Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America.
Current Situation
In the Windward Islands and the rest of the Caribbean especially Dominica, holdings are in the one to two acre range. For many Latin America and the Caribbean producer countries, bananas are a crucial cash crop, and the majority of these bananas are exported.
In the Caribbean, production is usually done by private stakeholders with the government providing support to producers. For the Windward Islands, the industry has been the most important sector since the 1950s. Most farmers are organised under the Windward Islands Farmers Association (WINFA) which links national organisations of small farmers in each country. In St. Vincent, banana production employs upwards of 60% of the work force and accounts for 50% of merchandise exports. Meanwhile, Jamaica’s exports have declined significantly since 2008 and the country now mainly produces for local consumption.
Fairtrade Bananas attributes a decline in banana production to factors such as:
Statistics on CARICOM banana production, yields and area harvested for the years 2008-2013 are available for download. They are sourced from FAOSTAT.
Business Case
Why invest in bananas?