Polk County citrus farmer cautiously optimistic about Oriental fruit fly

Share
Citrus
Citrus. By Ian DeBarry/WMNF

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said in a news release Tuesday there is an Oriental fruit fly infestation in Miami-Dade County. Officials have declared a state of emergency because the fly could potentially attack hundreds of crops there.

But the general manager of the Peace River Packing Company, Larry Black, tells WMNF News there’s no immediate danger to the citrus industry in Polk County.

“I have the confidence that the Department of Agriculture will be able to contain and eradicate the Oriental fruit fly that’s been found in southeast Florida. But yes, it would be a challenge if it were left unchecked and was not contained and eradicated.”

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson talks illegal immigration in Tampa

Listen: Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson tackled the topic...

The Scoop: Fri. June 20, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

WMNF headlines including affordable housing repeal, new waterfront stadium proposal,...

Carmine Marceno street racing
Lee County Sheriff Marceno says he has ‘zero tolerance’ for street racing. Here’s a video of Marceno street racing. (Trident)

The speedometer shows a car going 74 mph while still...

Juneteenth
A Juneteenth bus tour highlights small Black-owned businesses

For Juneteenth Congresswoman Kathy Castor did a bus tour to...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Da' Soul Kitchen
Player position: