FELDA, FL — Even his many critics likely would acknowledge Maury Boyd has become one of the most consequential Florida citrus growers in the age of citrus greening.
The jury remains out, however, on whether the Winter Garden-based grower's unconventional strategy against greening will rescue the Florida citrus industry, provide a bridge to a more permanent solution, or lead to its eventual demise.
"I think what makes Maury exciting is that he offers something else," said Fritz Roka, an agricultural economist at the University of Florida's Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee, who has studied the economics of the "Boyd system," as it's widely known. "At least there's an option. That's always better if there's only one option and that's removing trees."
Roka hit on the central controversy surrounding the Boyd system: It rejects the conventional wisdom of many academics and the official recommendation of the state and federal agriculture departments that growers should cut down citrus trees once greening infection is confirmed.
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