By Kevin Bouffard
THE LEDGER
BONITA SPRINGS Rumors of the death of the Florida citrus industry have been greatly exaggerated, Mike Sparks told journalists at the beginning of his annual "State of Florida Citrus" address Thursday.
Tongues will continue wagging, however, until the industry conquers its No. 1 threat, citrus greening.
"Certainly the first words that come to mind is a sense of urgency," said Sparks, the chief executive at Lakeland-based Florida Citrus Mutual, the state's largest growers' representative.
"The spread of (greening) makes it the most serious disease on the planet. It's put a $9 billion industry at risk."
The Sparks address came at the Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference hosted by Citrus Mutual in Bonita Springs.
Greening is a fatal bacterial disease that has spread to every commercial citrus county in Florida, he said. Because many citrus growers won't replant groves destroyed by greening, it's a factor in the continuing decline of citrus acreage and fruit production across the state.
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