Farmers have the soil fumigant methyl bromide to thank for such bountiful harvests.
Before fields in California were fumigated, an average acre yielded 1 to 5 tons of strawberries. Now, average yields are 20 to 25 tons and more. A highly toxic gas, methyl bromide is injected into the soil before planting, wiping out nearly everything alive. It can also kill people but is safer than other fumigants in some respects because it leaves no toxic residue in the soil. Instead, it escapes the soil and rises into the atmosphere.