The Impact on the Production of Vegetables from a Ban on Methyl Bromide


Methodology

 Methyl bromide has been identified as a critical soil fumigant used in the production of

several vegetable and fruit crops, those being tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, eggplant,

squash, strawberries and watermelons. While methyl bromide may not be critical to all crops

in all production systems, it is currently used in each of these crops in some production systems

within some production areas in Florida.

 Production of these crops are economic enterprises that growers produce in expectation

of a positive return to their investments. These crops compete with each other and other crops

and enterprises for resources used in their production. Growers of these crops also compete

with other producers who can produce and ship these same products during the season that

Florida growers have them available.

 A partial equilibrium model can be used to evaluate the effects a change in the industry

may have on the production and marketing of various crops from various regions. In the model

used here (see Appendix E for a more detailed discussion of the model), these crops were

modeled in a monthly model considering production from each of the major producing regions

in Florida and from other regions in the U.S. and Mexico which grow and sell during Florida's

season. See Appendix D for further discussion of the crops, months, and competing regions

included in the economic analysis.2



 2As noted in Appendix D, two separate analyses are conducted. One analysis encompasses
those fruit and vegetable crops which are annuals, e.g. tomatoes, peppers, etc.; the other
analysis deals with the perennial crops, namely citrus.

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