Commissioner Putnam declared a state of agricultural emergency last week due to the outbreak of the flies.
Advertisement
The agricultural area, called Redland, in Miami-Dade County highly contributes to the state’s economy due to its diverse growing potential, ranging from tomatoes to papaya. The Oriental fruit fly, native to Asia, works by burrowing its way into various types of fruit, laying eggs and ruining crops.
Officials are keeping a close eye on the invasive fly fight in Florida, and say they could use a stronger aerial pesticide spraying campaign if it looks like the Oriental fruit flies are on the increase.
The fly was first detected near Miami a few weeks ago in the Redland, an area known for its pockets of red clay.
“It’s usually full”, he told NPR, “especially at this time of year, because we do truckloads of mamey and avocado and passion fruit and dragon fruit”. Its tropical climate allows it to grow more than 400 varieties of fruits and vegetables through all the seasons of the year. Salvador Fernandez, manager of J&C Tropicals, said all of his coolers normally filled with fruit are empty. Crops like tomatoes, pepper, beans and squash are also at high risk because they will be planted very soon.
Fernandez has said that more than 20 million pounds of fruit, including dragon fruit and mamey, have gone to waste.
State plant health director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plant protection and quarantine noted the 75 fruit fly incursions since 1999 in Florida. But counts have been dropping, which may be a sign the eradication measures are working.
“I’m extremely confident we’ll get our arms around this, and hopefully, within a matter of a few months, we’ll be out of the situation”, Hornby says.
Advertisement
However, growers of organic produce expressed concern that their status could be negated if an airborne pesticide is used on their crops and could put them out of business for the next three years. He said if authorities can not eradicate the fly the industry in Miami-Dade County will suffer some serious consequences. As for compensation for growers, Putnam says there’s nothing planned now. “There’s a lot of people that just don’t have the cash flow to sustain these kinds of losses”.
