Tropical Fruit Production

The Tropical Fruit Crops agent is responsible for the development and implementation of educational programs for the commercial tropical fruit and citrus industries of Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier and Lee counties, and for identifying problem areas and research needs for these crops. The agent also cooperates with other Extension faculty on the Master Gardener program; pesticide training; equipment and worker safety; and water quality, quantity, policy and environmental issues. He is part of the Extension frost alert program for the area. The agent works with several agricultural organizations and with the Overall Agriculture and Tropical Fruit Advisory Committees.

Tropical fruit and citrus growers are helped by the agent in areas of production and marketing, and are advised and helped in the evaluation of grove sites, tropical fruit types best adapted to the area, and pros and cons in the decision making process involved in growing tropical and/or citrus fruits.

Upcoming

Laurel Wilt Avocado Meeting

May 24th 2012           6:00-7:30 pm Miami-Dade County Extension Service 18710 SW 288th St. Homestead, FL 33030 Agenda:  Jonathan Crane, Welcome and introduction Richard Gaskala, Dir. Recent LW and RAB detections in groves and urban areas, FDACS-DPI results of scouting and sentinel tree monitoring   Jonathan Crane Overview of current recommendations for scouting, tree sampling and infested tree disposal Jorge Peña Current specific RAB recommendations and reasoning   Randy Ploetz Current specific LW recommendations and reasoning General discussion and questions (Richard Gaskala and Jonathan Crane, moderators).

Tropical Fruit Culture and Management Program

The purpose of this program is to provide horticultural and agricultural education to commercial and sometimes backyard tropical and subtropical fruit growers of Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Lee and sometimes other South Florida counties. Topics of this program include improved cultural practices; new tropical fruit crop species or cultivars, irrigation, spacing, pruning and decreased taxation through land use and conservation and others economic stability. Sustainability of the tropical fruit industry as affected by regulations, crop insurance, internal and foreign competition, marketing and other factors must be considered. Another very important purpose is to provide unbiased scientific information to the clientele or agencies.

IPM Tropical Fruits and Safety Program

To familiarize growers with pests, diseases that attack tropical fruits; to teach them how to identify them and control them using biological, cultural practices and chemicals, if needed, that will give proper control without harm to the environment. Growers, importers will not be tempted to introduce plant materials illegally if they know the pest and its potential damage. Continue cooperation between growers, industry and IFAS faculty to satisfy research needs and pesticide registration. To increase farm worker/management knowledge about safety in the workplace.

Tropical Fruit Links

• Infant Botulism and Honey
• South Florida Tropical Fruit Grower Perspectives: Water Conservation Management Practices
• Chill Accumulation Monitoring and Forecasting
• Chilli thrips Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Insecta: Thysanoptera: Thripidae)
• A Guide to EPA’s Proposed Numeric Nutrient Water Quality Criteria for Florida
• Pruning, Topping, & Hedging Avocado Groves
• Scouting for the Ambrosia Beetle Attack of Avocado
• Monitoreo del Escarabajo Ambrosia del Laurel Rojo
  
• RAB-LW Commercial Recommendations
  
• Redbay Ambrosia Beetle Homeowner Recomendations
• Tropical Fruits-Local Packing Houses
• Cold Protection of Tropical Fruits
• Tropical Research & Education Center's (TREC)
  Tropical Fruit Management Program
• Tropical Fruit Photography (Ian McGuire, TREC)
• Cuban Agriculture - Vegetables & Tropical Fruit Publications
• Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Tropical Fruit Page 

Publications

• Laurel wilt: a threat to avocado & related trees 
• La marchitez del Laurel Rojo
• Redbay Ambrosia Beetle & Laurel Wilt Fungus     
• Escarabajo Ambrosia del Laurel Rojo
  
• Laurel wilt: a destructive new disease in the southeastern US
• Pests of banana in Florida 
• Diagnosis and management of banana diseases 
• Disease resistant banana cultivars 
• How to grow healthy plants 
• Updates on fertilizer prices 
• How to collect leaf samples 
• Improving fertilizer use efficiency 
• Water, nutrition, and plant disease

 

Need more information? Check out our Tropical Fruit & Related Publications.