Squash production in Florida will remain nearly unchanged. Squash currently double

cropped in southwest Florida will cease but Dade County will increase production of single crop

squash grown in an open bed system by about 60 percent, more than offsetting the decline

absorbed in southwest Florida. The single crop open bed system does not use methyl bromide

currently and faces no productivity loss by banning methyl bromide.

 Eggplant will no longer be grown in Florida. Palm Beach County has been the major

producer of eggplant in Florida and without methyl bromide, eggplant production can no longer

be sustained economically.

 Production in Florida that will be lost because of a ban on the use of methyl bromide will

be offset partially by increased production in other areas for all crops but strawberries and

watermelons. Mexico will increase acreage devoted to production of these crops by 56 percent,

with the largest increase occurring in tomatoes, from 55,068 acres to 100,568 acres. Acres will

increase for all crops but squash, which will decrease by 6.6 percent from 14,491 acres to

13,531 acres. Acres devoted to the production of bell peppers in Texas will also increase, from

5,685 acres to 14,258 acres, an increase of 143 percent. Productivity of bell peppers in Texas

will not be effected by a ban on methyl bromide since currently, they are grown without methyl

bromide.

 The reason for the substitution of production in Florida to production in Mexico and

Texas is because a ban on methyl bromide will not impact the production systems in Mexico and

Texas for the crops considered in this study. Mexican producers currently use methyl bromide

on only a limited number of acres. Even with their limited use of methyl bromide, the Montreal

Protocol gives developing countries an additional 10 years to use methyl bromide before being