November 2022 - 10

Florida Tomato Institute grapples with pests
By Doug Ohlemeier
Assistant Editor
Despite some low crop years, Florida
tomato growers are returning to
normal production. A continuing
concern, however, is protecting the
crop from pests.
At the Florida Tomato Institute on
Sept. 7 in LaBelle, Florida, growers heard
from researchers and Extension scientists
from the University of Florida's Institute
of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/
IFAS), who presented information on
protecting crops from emerging pests.
In his annual State of the Industry
talk, Michael Schadler, executive
vice president of the Florida Tomato
Committee and senior vice president
of the Florida Tomato Exchange and
the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange,
described strengths of the industry and
challenges facing tomato growers.
Production in 2021 increased 15%
across the board, noteworthy because
2021 was the first time in the last
five years Florida tomato production
increased.
" We hope to be at a new baseline where
we can bounce off the bottom where we
are and start to grow again, and grow
profitably, " Schadler said.
While tomato growers experienced
high inflation on input costs, tomato
prices dropped. Prices averaged $9.54 a
box in 2021, down 20% from the previous
season and down 50% than two years ago.
Two decades of consolidation among
growers and packers have left a smaller
grower base.
" This is actually a strength because
those growers and packers that remain,
they are the survivors, " Schadler said.
" Most importantly, they are committed
to this industry and to the continued
viability and success of this industry.
We're not going anywhere.
" We have a few challenges, but we are
here for the long haul, " he said. " We are
still the biggest tomato-growing state in
the country. "
Nematode threat
Researchers from UF's Gulf Coast
Research and Education Center
(GCREC), in Wimauma, Florida,
and UF's Southwest Florida Research
and Education Center (SWFREC),
Immokalee, Florida, updated growers on
new pest and disease threats.
Johan Desaeger, associate professor of
entomology and nematology at UF/IFAS
GCREC, said guava root knot and stubby
root nematodes, which attack many
crops, are becoming highly prolific in
Florida tomato fields.
Nematodes enter a plants' root systems,
causing severe galling, even more severe
than other pests.
" They have high damage potential, "
Desaeger said. " Nematode-resistant
tomatoes won't protect against this
species. The root knot nematodes are
considered highly aggressive and
highly damaging. "
Desaeger sampled tomato fields,
10 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
Michael Schadler, head of the Florida Tomato Committee and tomato exchanges, gives his yearly State of the Industry talk during
the Florida Tomato Institute in LaBelle, Florida. Photos: Doug Ohlemeier
including commercial vegetable farms,
research centers and small community
gardens in 10 south and central Florida
counties. (The pest isn't common in
north Florida.) In the U.S., nematode
distribution is limited to the tropics,
and commonly found in Florida as
well as coastal South Carolina and
North Carolina.
Recently, the pest has become a big
concern for North Carolina sweet
potato growers and has been also
discovered in Georgia.
In many fields, stubby root
nematodes are becoming the most
common nematode and are more
prevalent than the root knot nematode,
Desaeger said. There is some concern
the pest may be related to yellow top
symptoms some growers are seeing at
the end of the season, when plantings
are heavy with fruit.
Stinky bugs
Stink bugs, which can also cause
severe damage, are becoming more
problematic. Amanda Hodges, Extension
scientist, entomologist and director of
UF's Doctor of Plant Medicine program,
said the southern green stink bug, the
most common one in Florida, the brown
stink bug and the harlequin stink bug
increased in numbers from 2019-22 in
the six south and central Florida tomato
fields she surveyed.
" We are increasingly thinking it's
a confluence of stink bugs attacking
tomatoes, " Hodges said. " Perhaps
the introduction of the brown
marmorated stink bug and seeing
that one increasingly prevalent in the
field have resulted in more apparent
economic damage. "
Hodges said she didn't expect to
discover the brown marmorated
species in the counties she surveyed
Wesley Roan of Lipman Family Farms, and Tony DiMare of the DiMare Co. talk during
the 2022 Florida Tomato Institute.
and is seeing it as the state's third-most
abundant variety of stink bugs.
The harlequin stink bug attacks
crucifers more than tomatoes, but will
attack tomatoes if cruciferous crops are
absent, she said.
Stink bugs remain active when field
temperatures exceed 70 degrees, which
is normal for Florida. Hodges said
researchers are working to improve
trapping and that much work needs to be
done in terms of monitoring, improving
trapping and expanding understanding
of stink bug understanding.
Other researchers presented findings
on gene editing, tomato cultivars,
viruses, foliar diseases, whiteflies and
other topics. VGN
University of Florida's Chris Gunter (from left) and Steven Sargent talk with Florida
Tomato Exchanges' Michael Schadler at the Florida Tomato Institute.

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November 2022

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