Australian supermarkets may find it difficult to sell fresh Australian orange juice as the number of citrus orchards growing for juicing in Australia declines due to price and climate, Taiwan's united news service reported.

In Australia, the area planted with sweet oranges for juicing has reportedly shrunk by 30% in the past 20 years. Nathan Hancock, chief executive of citrus Australia, said low retail prices made it impossible for juice companies to pay farmers what they could reasonably afford.

"Farmers are under tremendous pressure and Australian consumers may not be able to drink fresh Australian orange juice for as long as five years," Hancock said. We are very concerned that pressure from large retailers on juice manufacturing will force growers out of business."

It has been reported that fruit farmers can earn two to three times as much if they grow oranges or navel oranges.

In addition to low prices, recent weather has also affected the overall harvest. Mr Hankuk says citrus production is likely to be short this year. A frosting in the spring of 2019 and a heatwave over Christmas and New Year's could lead to fruit damage and production drops of up to 45 per cent. High irrigation costs have also made growers unwilling or unable to afford full irrigation.

If there is a shortage of fresh juice in Australian supermarkets, it is unlikely to be replaced by imported juice because the shelf life of fresh juice is too short.

However, imports of juices from Brazil to Australia, which are processed and frozen, imported, thawed and bottled, are likely to increase. Imports of normal temperature fruit juices, which have a longer life, are also likely to grow.

Citrus Australia said it had written to major retailers to discuss pricing issues.