Florida oranges are threatened with destruction if scientists and the government can't find a way to stop an Asian bug from spreading a tree-killing disease.

The harvest for the state's signature fruit could plunge to 27 million boxes by 2026, according to an Oct. 21 report by the Florida Department of Citrus. That's an 82 percent drop from 149.8 million boxes in 2005, the year the bacterium that causes Huanglongbing, better known as citrus greening, was found in southern Florida.

The disease is spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, a tiny winged insect, and there's currently no known cure. Greening already caused industry-wide losses of $7.8 billion and more than 7,500 jobs between 2006 to 2014, the University of Florida estimates.

The outlook is “precarious” for Florida's citrus industry, which “risks losing relevance and economic impact” in the long run if crop yields continue to fall and trees keep dying, the citrus department said in its Oct. 21 report.

The current harvest will shrink to 74 million boxes for the season that began Oct. 1, down 24 percent from a year ago and the lowest since 1964, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Nov. 9. The forecast signals the fourth consecutive seasonal decline, the longest slump since at least 1913, state data show. A box weighs 90 pounds (41 kilograms).

The prospects pushed prices for frozen concentrated orange juice to $1.4785 a pound yesterday on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, up 43 percent from this year's low of $1.0345 on Sept. 29. On Nov. 13, prices touched $1.607, the highest since June 2014. This is raising costs for Coca Cola Co., maker of Minute Maid brands, and PepsiCo Inc., which sells Tropicana and Gatorade.

Demand for America's favorite juice has fallen because of consumer perceptions about about high calorie content and the rise of alternatives such as coconut water. Even so, Florida's industry, which includes grapefruit and specialty citrus, still employs about 62,000 people and has an annual economic impact of $10.7 billion on the state, according to Florida Citrus Mutual, the largest grower organization.

Les Dunson, a 53-year-old farmer in Winter Haven, Fla., calls psyllids “the little monster” and says the insect has been more deadly than hurricanes. He's the president of Dunson Harvesting Inc., which his grandfather started in the 1950s, and currently has about 2,000 acres. His output has fallen to about 600,000 boxes from 1 million a decade ago, even though he's increased his annual pesticide use and feeds his groves with more nutrients to help productivity, he said in a telephone interview.

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