Another holiday is here and with it comes a lot of extra work for everyone in our industry. I hope you all get some time off to enjoy your families and remember what this holiday is all about.
As its shipments of fresh produce to the U.S. increase, so do concerns about contamination. As the U.S. and China hold high-level economic talks, there's no shortage of important topics. At the top of the list for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and China Vice-Premier Wu Yi will be China's trade surplus with the U.S., which hit $232 billion last year and has prompted Congress to consider all sorts of economic sanctions against China. China's currency policy is a related issue. And the safety of pet foods from China has received attention because of the recent deaths of some animals in the U.S. However, one topic has received less attention: China's growing influence as an exporter of fresh produce for human consumption. While China's overall exports of agricultural goods are relatively small, they're growing at a torrid pace. In the first three months of this year, imports of fresh fruit from China grew 279%, to $7.4 million; fresh vegetables grew 66%, to $32 million; and fruit and vegetable juices grew 98%, to $109 million.
LAURA KURTZMAN
An insect-borne virus that has killed tomato plants across Central America, Florida and Georgia has been detected in California for the first time. The virus, known as tomato yellow leaf curl, devastated crops in the Dominican Republican and in Mexico, forcing those countries to curtail the growing season to contain the spread of the disease. Tomatoes are California's eighth largest crop. The state supplies the vast majority of the nation's processed tomatoes - 95 percent, according to the California Tomato Growers Association. “Where this virus is present, it will absolutely kill the tomatoes," said Ross Siragusa, president of the association, which represents farmers who supply the state's $2 billion a year processed tomato industry. "It's a very difficult disease to fight” California has some natural advantages in stopping the disease from spreading that other locales lack. The cold, wet winters in the Central Valley, where most tomatoes are grown, act as barriers to the bemisia white flies that carry the disease. The flies are native to Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties in the southern part of the state, but not to any counties in the Central Valley.
