MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL. (WTXL) - Florida is well on the way to eradicating the largest outbreak of Asian Fruit Flies in its history.
According to State Agriculture officials, a record 165 of the insects have been found in a part of Miami-Dade County that is mainly agricultural land. A program of quarantine, aerial spraying and destroying potentially infected crops is working.
State Senator Rene Garcia says, the state should find a way to help the farmers who are losing their crops while paying to treat their land for fruit flies.
"We're asking a lot from those farmers, to give up their livelihoods to protect the rest of the state. What is the state and the rest of the industry doing to protect them, for giving up that livelihood and their income?"
An estimated 2,000 growers, nurseries and other businesses are affected, including the Quincy Farm Share Program.
They say, they have lost around 141-tons of product as a result of the infestation.
