There have been some recent news stories about new crops that farmers are trying to establish in the Southeast in response to changing climate conditions as well as citrus greening and other problems with current crops. Previously I have written about satsumas as a new crop that is being introduced to southern Georgia to take advantage of the “local” market. You can find that article using the search box at top right.
Growing Georgia published an article this week describing the increasing interest in growing olives in the Southeast, particularly in Florida where growers are tired of dealing with canker and citrus greening and are looking for an alternative crop. Olives are a crop that has only been grown in Georgia for the past few years but have the potential to expand as growers become more familiar with the crop. You can read the article by clicking here.
Another article from WTOC discussed the increasing interest in growing pomegranates in the Southeast. You can read that article here. The article points out that only a decade ago only a few farmers were growing pomegranates commercially, and now there are over a hundred. The production has been aided recently by a grant from USDA which will go towards the purchase of machinery to separate the fruit from its peel. The growth of this crop parallels that of blueberries, which were established when tobacco harvesting declined a number of years ago.
