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Non-Tech : Farming -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (78)	1/22/2000 11:16:00 AM
From: Jon Koplik	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4443

Another citrus canker article. January 21, 2000 Citrus Trees Burned To Kill Canker Filed at 9:33 p.m. EST By The Associated Press FLORIDA CITY, Fla. (AP) -- A bonfire of lime trees infected with citrus canker went up in smoke Friday along with the hopes of some growers who thought they were on the verge of recovering from Hurricane Andrew. The plant disease, which is contagious and also poses a threat to oranges and grapefruit, has invaded commercial groves for the first time in South Florida, forcing growers to destroy the blighted trees in hopes of stopping the spread. The canker not only is endangering the crop but also a way of life. ``My wife shed enough tears already,' said LimeCo owner Herbert Yamamura, who will lose a 290-acre grove to bulldozers Saturday. ``It makes me cry when she cries. I try to be strong.' At 66, Yamamura was persuaded by the corky brown bumps in his Persian lime grove to pack it in as a Florida citrus grower and switch entirely to importing fruit, now less than a quarter of his business. The plant disease is believed to have spread by winds, jumping about 30 miles from backyard citrus trees in suburban Miami, where it was first spotted five years ago, to commercial groves to the south. Experts believe at least a third of the $15 million lime crop has been lost in Miami-Dade County, but the overwhelming concern is for the bulk of the $8 billion citrus industry sitting as little as 90 miles north. For now, all but 20 acres of the 677 acres checked tested positive for the canker or had been exposed to the disease, officials said. The four-mile square test site is in the Florida City area, near the tip of the Florida peninsula and Everglades National Park. Citrus fruit and plant material cannot be moved out of quarantined areas in South Florida that now total 500 square miles. ``Everybody has their fingers crossed that we're going to be able to contain what we've got there,' said Tom Kirby, executive director of the Dade County Farm Bureau. ``Given the fact that it travels by wind, I personally am not very hopeful.' The farm labor market will feel some affects. Some migrant laborers who came to the region to work winter crops became full-time residents by also working the lime groves from May to October. But consumers should not notice any shortages. Since the destruction of groves by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, most of the U.S. lime supply comes from Mexico. Miami-Dade growers had been counting on groves planted since then to boost their 10 percent market share. Two more windy tropical storms, Harvey in September and Irene in October, are blamed for the latest canker spread. Key lime pie eaters don't have to worry about their flavorful source drying up. True key limes, smaller than a walnut, are a cottage industry. Most pies are made with juice from other limes and lemons. Chinese New Year's shoppers may be the first to see any market impact. They spend $3 to $5 on a single pumelo, an oversized, avocado-shaped grapefruit variety bought for decoration and good luck. Doused with diesel and ignited with propane, a bulldozed row of pumelos next to the original lime infestation also was ignited Friday, the first fires set to kill the canker since its farm discovery Jan. 5. ``We hate to do it. I was born here,' said Roger Harden of H&H Land Clearing and Demolition, who was hired to knock down infected trees. And once a grove is destroyed to fight the canker, citrus cannot be planted on the cleared acreage for at least 18 months. It would take years more to develop a new crop, leading growers to hard decisions. ``If the 3,000 acres of limes disappear due to canker, we're going to have 600 more five-acre homesites available real quickly,' said Pal Brooks, third-generation owner of Brooks Tropical, a diversified grower, farm manager, packer, shipper and importer. Limes are his second-biggest crop. After more than 40 years, Yamamura has lost his taste for growing. He plans to sell his land and use his crop insurance covering less than half of the cost of his trees to pay his debts. ``This year was finally the year that I was going to be able to get my maintenance costs back plus a little bit of profit,' he said. ``This time, canker's going to take it all.' Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company