Florida Orange Crop Is Biggest in Decade : Agriculture: State’s industry may capitalize on California’s freeze. But growers worry about a future production glut that may reduce prices.

In position to capitalize on California’s citrus freeze losses, Florida is producing its biggest crop of oranges in a decade.

Still, the industry is uneasy about the future.

While growers are reaping a good harvest in a year that is so far frost-free, industry leaders know they have a major challenge ahead in selling all of the processed juice that will be squeezed from bumper crops foreseen in coming years.

Unless new markets are developed for the state’s principal product, frozen concentrated orange juice, the bigger crops may mean lower prices--and thus smaller profits for the growers, processors and so on up the line.

State and federal analysts forecast a 1990-91 orange crop of 165 million 90-pound boxes. Ninety percent of Florida’s oranges are processed into juice.

The crop would be nearly 50% greater than the freeze-damaged production of last year and the largest output since 1980, when 146.6 million boxes were harvested.

Florida could produce 213 million to 218 million boxes of oranges by 1995, predicts economic research director Bob Behr of the Florida Department of Citrus. This would surpass the record of 206.7 million boxes harvested in 1979-80.

By the turn of the century, orange production could be spiraling toward the 300-million-box level.

“There is a lot of concern about the pricing structure and the total juice supply worldwide in years ahead,” said Bobby McKown of Florida Citrus Mutual, the state’s largest growers’ association with 12,000 members.

Market competition is expected to be fierce in coming years.

At the same time that Florida crops are rebounding from disastrous freezes in the 1980s, Brazil also is producing record harvests. Mexico has an up-and-coming citrus industry. And Cuba could pose a competitive threat if the Fidel Castro regime were to be replaced.

In addition, other nations--such as Morocco, Spain, Portugal and Israel--have boosted plantings in recent years, in part because of Florida’s problems with bad weather.

Florida is the largest producer in this country and second only to Brazil in worldwide sales.

The industry relies on import tariffs on juice to protect its large domestic market. Florida growers and processors fear that they cannot compete economically in this country with low-cost foreign producers, who are often subsidized by their governments.