A highly unusual winter frost in January brought four days of below-zero weather to the Calabria region of southern Italy, destroying some 80 percent of the citron trees and causing the worst etrog crisis in the area in the last half-century, according to Chabad.org. Partially damaged trees have been trimmed down to their stumps, while other trees have been destroyed completely and must be replaced. It takes about three years for a newly-planted citron root branch to grow into a tree and yield its first etrogim.
Merchants and kashrut supervisors say that consequently, this year a far smaller number of Calabria citrons will be available for the Sukkot holiday when the etrog is needed and even those harvested will be of a poorer quality. Rabbi Menachem Lazar, director of ChabadPiazza Bologna in Rome says, “Farmers have lost so much this year, they can just sell their land to developers. They’re asking themselves, is it worth it?” For Chabad hasidim, the Calabria etrog is the etrog of choice, making this year's shortage especially serious.