Jim Gilreath, a professor with the University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Wimauma, records data on how new metalized film covers on plant beds can reduce the need for methyl bromide soil fumigant to protect tomato crops from pests and diseases – Thursday, Jan. 12, 2006. He said most uses of the fumigant have been banned to protect the Earth’s ozone layer. Only a few emergency uses of the fumigant are still permitted, and the covers reduce the need for the chemical by as much as 50 percent.

(AP Photo by Josh Wickham/University of Florida/IFAS)
View larger image. To request a print-quality image, email newsdesk@ufl.edu.
Return to: UF research shows that methyl bromide use on crops can be reduced by 50 percent under metalized bed covers