Recent activities of this group were also reviewed in that issue. There are serious regulatory impediments to its use in Florida and this meeting was held to discuss strategies for Telone use which might enable farmers to make more extensive use of Telone as a methyl bromide alternative. In the Florida farming system, plant beds are raised at the same time that fumigation takes place. The required protective clothing is very hot under these conditions and OSHA regulations will limit each worker to a few minutes of work per hour. Growers find this restriction to be economically unfeasible.
Research continues to determine the cause for the loss of efficacy.
A 20-acre strawberry field with adjacent housing would only be able to treat about 8 acres due to buffer zone requirements. It is economically unfeasible with the cost of land and farming overhead for a strawberry farmer to fallow 12 out of 20 acres. A grower with an extensive alternatives testing program estimated the efficacy reduction to be about 4 percent for his tests. Application through drip irrigation has been effective in California and more research is planned for Florida to increase effectiveness and possibly reduce atmospheric emissions. Telone has minimal effect on weeds and will not control nutsedge, probably the number one problem in Florida.