With orange production plummeting in recent years, Florida chemical company AgLogic is pushing back on the state’s move to block the use of aldicarb on citrus crops, according to an article from WUSF. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, along with farmworker and environmental groups, says the pesticide poses health and environmental risks.
According to the article, proponents believe aldicarb could help fight citrus greening disease, a disease carried by insects that has caused massive damage in citrus groves. Key players in Florida’s citrus industry are quoted as saying, “the iconic Florida orange and its cousin the Florida grapefruit are being quickly annihilated” by citrus greening. AgLogic argues that the state agriculture department’s decision was arbitrary and did not adequately justify denying the use of the pesticide.
Read the entire article here.
