For years now, we've been reporting on successive downturns in the once proud and mighty citrus industry.
In fact, just in December, the Statistical Institute of Belize noted that already diminished earnings of 1.4 million dollars from orange concentrate in December, went down by another three quarter million dollars.
Indeed, no matter which metric you watch, citrus is in serious, sustained demise. But could that be terminal demise? Could the first and flagship export industry of the south - which was established more than 100 years ago - finally be on its very last?
We visited with the biggest farmers still standing John Zabaneh at his Maya King farm today - and he said the situation is dire and urgent:
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"I have to make a hardline decision."
Jules Vasquez
"And if that doesn't happen?"
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"Gone, gone! gone, gone!"
John Zabaneh looked on wistfully at his malnourished citrus trees as he today drove me around his sprawling Maya King citrus farm.
It's still got two thousand acres of trees on it that stretch - it seems- to the horizon. And it's probably the largest privately owned citrus farm in the country - even though the difficult times in the industry has forced him to scale back from six thousand acres.
13 pickers and cleaners are working this harvest - in the past it would be about 80.
Zabaneh says poor prices at the plant and the soaring costs of fertilizer have forced him to face some difficult decisions:
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"Whatever little I could get for it which is I send to the factory. And I am sending 7, 8. 900 boxes a day to the factory, everyday. Some days I send 2 trips like that."
"But after that is done and I will tell you this too. I do that every day and with all that when the weekend comes I don't get enough money off of that to make a payroll, I have to borrow money to make payroll."
"It's not an easy decision today by no means, because It's not bush, it's not cohune or trumpet trees that I have to push down. It's orange trees, millions of dollars in investment. Just look. Anybody that have an idea of cost. By no means its not an easy decision."
Jules Vasquez
"What is a decision, John?"
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"We pray for a miracle that we don't have to do it. The decision is you have to knock it down."
And he's hoping he doesn't have to do that and his only hope is a massive bailout for the few farmers left from the government of Belize:
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"If there is not between now and June, July, if there is not some drastic action by the government for subsidize, the government have to actually subsidize, give fertilizer to farmers."
Jules Vasquez
"You're saying a drastic infusion of fertilizer and you're saying the state should pay for it. You realize how that sounds, right."
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"It sounds very bad."
Jules Vasquez
"It sounds like communism."
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"That's where it's at."
Tomorrow, we'll have part two of that story and tell you why oranges are more expensive than ever at your local market.
