ABSTRACT
Florida agriculture is a great producer of winter vegetables, supplying over half of all winter vegetables consumed in the United States during the winter season. The Department’s Division of Plant Industry serves as Florida’s plant pest regulatory agency charged with protecting our native and commercially grown plants and our honey bee industry from the introduction and spread of serious pests. The Division has 286 employees in five bureaus. Just as Florida’s climate is conducive to agricultural production, it is also favorable for a wide variety of agricultural pest and disease problems, including fruit flies of economic importance. Florida is a mecca for international tourism and trade, resulting in an increased pest introduction threat on cargo and passenger baggage. Florida, as much as any other area in the world, must be ever-vigilant in the attempt to detect newly introduced exotic pests.
