Tomato production in Florida

Harvest is almost year-round, from October to June. The highest temperatures of the summer from July to September end profitable yield and even the heat of June and October limit productivity, such that April to May and November to January are the largest harvests of the year. Federal Crop Insurance for fresh tomatoes specifically excludes insects and diseases.{{cite web | title=7 CFR § 457.139 - Fresh market tomato (dollar plan) crop insurance provisions. | website=Legal Information Institute (LII) | date=2016-07-25 | url=http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/7/457.139 | access-date=2022-06-28}}

{{visible anchor|Tomato Bacterial Spot|Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria|text=Tomato Bacterial Spot}} is caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria. {{visible anchor|Tomato Bacterial Speck|Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato|text=Tomato Bacterial Speck}} is produced by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. Both are economically significant in fresh-market tomato here.

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|{{cite journal | last1=Louws | first1=F. J. | last2=Wilson | first2=M. | last3=Campbell | first3=H. L. | last4=Cuppels | first4=D. A. | last5=Jones | first5=J. B. | last6=Shoemaker | first6=P. B. | last7=Sahin | first7=F. | last8=Miller | first8=S. A. | title=Field Control of Bacterial Spot and Bacterial Speck of Tomato Using a Plant Activator | journal=Plant Disease | publisher=Scientific Societies | volume=85 | issue=5 | year=2001 | issn=0191-2917 | doi=10.1094/pdis.2001.85.5.481 | pages=481–488 | pmid=30823123 | s2cid=73460581}}

|{{cite journal | last1=Balogh | first1=B. | last2=Jones | first2=Jeffrey | last3=Iriarte | first3=F. | last4=Momol | first4=M. | title=Phage Therapy for Plant Disease Control | journal=Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology | publisher=Bentham Science Publishers | volume=11 | issue=1 | date=2010-01-01 | issn=1389-2010 | pmid=20214607 | doi=10.2174/138920110790725302 | pages=48–57 | s2cid=20820594}}

|{{cite journal | last1=Jones | first1=J.B. | last2=Jackson | first2=L.E. | last3=Balogh | first3=B. | last4=Obradovic | first4=A. | last5=Iriarte | first5=F.B. | last6=Momol | first6=M.T. | title=Bacteriophages for Plant Disease Control | journal=Annual Review of Phytopathology | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=45 | issue=1 | date=2007-09-08 | issn=0066-4286 | pmid=17386003 | doi=10.1146/annurev.phyto.45.062806.094411 | pages=245–262 | s2cid=5855317}}

|{{cite journal | last1=Vallad | first1=Gary E. | last2=Goodman | first2=Robert M. | title=Systemic Acquired Resistance and Induced Systemic Resistance in Conventional Agriculture | journal=Crop Science | publisher=Crop Science Society of America (Wiley) | volume=44 | issue=6 | year=2004 | issn=0011-183X | doi=10.2135/cropsci2004.1920 | pages=1920–1934 | s2cid=6247143}}

|{{cite journal | last=Bostock | first=Richard M. | title=Signal Crosstalk and Induced Resistance: Straddling the Line Between Cost and Benefit | journal=Annual Review of Phytopathology | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=43 | issue=1 | date=2005-09-01 | issn=0066-4286 | doi=10.1146/annurev.phyto.41.052002.095505 | pages=545–580 | s2cid=21909342 | pmid=16078895}}

|{{cite journal | last1=Beckers | first1=Gerold J. M. | last2=Conrath | first2=Uwe | title=Priming for stress resistance: from the lab to the field | journal=Current Opinion in Plant Biology | publisher=Elsevier | volume=10 | issue=4 | year=2007 | issn=1369-5266 | doi=10.1016/j.pbi.2007.06.002 | pages=425–431 | pmid=17644024 | s2cid=23649117}}

|{{cite journal | last1=Walters | first1=Dale | last2=Heil | first2=Martin | title=Costs and trade-offs associated with induced resistance | journal=Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology | publisher=Elsevier | volume=71 | issue=1–3 | year=2007 | issn=0885-5765 | doi=10.1016/j.pmpp.2007.09.008 | pages=3–17 | s2cid=83039636}}

|{{cite journal | last1=Potnis | first1=Neha | last2=Timilsina | first2=Sujan | last3=Strayer | first3=Amanda | last4=Shantharaj | first4=Deepak | last5=Barak | first5=Jeri D. | last6=Paret | first6=Mathews L. | last7=Vallad | first7=Gary E. | last8=Jones | first8=Jeffrey B. | title=Bacterial spot of tomato and pepper: diverse Xanthomonas species with a wide variety of virulence factors posing a worldwide challenge | journal=Molecular Plant Pathology | publisher=British Society for Plant Pathology (Wiley) | volume=16 | issue=9 | date=2015-04-29 | issn=1464-6722 | doi=10.1111/mpp.12244 | pages=907–920 | s2cid=22892749 | pmid=25649754 | pmc=6638463}}

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{{visible anchor|Acibenzolar-S-methyl|text=Acibenzolar-S-methyl}} (ASM) is a plant activator producing systemic acquired resistance (SAR). In a very widely regarded experiment Louws et al., 2001 used ASM to protect fresh tomato cultivation here against Tomato Bacterial Spot and Tomato Bacterial Speck. Over four years they treated with ASM as an alternative to copper bactericide and achieved almost total control with no yield loss. (Some fungicides were required to complement the bacterial control of ASM.) This result is spoken of worldwide when discussing basic plant biology, SAR, induced systemic resistance, the biology of Xanthomonads, and the need for alternative pesticides due to resistance, including phage therapy in agriculture.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

The Florida tomato industry has historically relied on migrant labor.{{cite journal |last1=Jonsson |first1=Patrik |title=Trafficking: In Florida's tomato fields, a fight for ethical farm labor grows |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2015/1116/Trafficking-In-Florida-s-tomato-fields-a-fight-for-ethical-farm-labor-grows |journal=Christian Science Monitor |access-date=15 May 2023}} Exploitation of that labor was widespread with the town of Immokalee, Florida being "known as ground zero for modern day slavery."{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Lisa |title=How America's 'ground-zero' for modern slavery was cleaned up by workers' group |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/30/world/ciw-fair-food-program-freedom-project/index.html |website=CNN |date=30 May 2017 |publisher=cnn.com |access-date=15 May 2023}}

• Arredondo, Florida
• Felda, Florida
• Celebrity tomato
• Mango production in Florida

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Category:Agriculture in Florida

Category:Tomatoes