Fresh Citrus


 An important use of methyl bromide is as a post-harvest fumigant for agricultural

 products. In Florida, citrus is the most important user of methyl bromide on a post-harvest

 basis.

 Although the majority of Florida citrus is processed into juice, fresh marketing still

represent an important source of revenue to Florida citrus producers. In Table 4.12, the

production and utilization of oranges, grapefruit, and tangerines is presented. Note that while

over 90 percent of Florida-produced oranges are typically processed, approximately 50 percent

of the grapefruit grown in Florida and over 60 percent of the tangerines produced in Florida are

marketed in fresh form.

 Fumigation is used in Florida citrus mainly to kill fruit flies which are found sporadically

in the state. While fruit flies may be found throughout the citrus producing region in the state,

only fresh citrus fruit destined for domestic markets in other citrus producing states (California,

Arizona, Texas, and Hawaii) is routinely fumigated. The number of cartons of fresh citrus

fumigated in Florida over the 1984 to 1993 period is shown in Table 4.13.

 There are two major types of grapefruit produced in Florida: white seedless and red

seedless1. In Table 4.14, production and utilization of white seedless grapefruit is presented.

Inspection of this table suggests that while a large proportion of white seedless grapefruit is

processed, exports of fresh white seedless grapefruit has expanded over the past decade. In



 'Both pink seedless and red seedless varieties are grown in Florida. While the USDA uses
the term "colored" to categorize both pink and red seedless fruit, the terminology most widely
used in the industry is to simply refer to all varieties which are not white as "red seedless
grapefruit". This convention is adopted in this study.

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