Media Contact: Steve Lyle, Office of Public Affairs, (916) 654-0462, steve.lyle@cdfa.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO – To gather reliable, objective information about postharvest chemicals used on oranges, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has begun a survey of packers, shippers, processors and storage operators in California and Florida.
Operators will have an opportunity to tell how they use postharvest chemicals responsibly to provide abundant and quality citrus for America and the world.
The survey results are official USDA estimates and are used in the decision-making process for the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), which impacts pesticide and chemical product registration and alternatives.
A trained interviewer from the California Agricultural Statistics Service will contact operators over the next several weeks to gather information on oranges – total quantity handled, quantity treated, chemicals used and rates applied. Individual packer, shipper, storage and processor information will be kept strictly confidential; all reports will be combined for the summary.
NASS will publish the results in March 2005. The Postharvest Chemical Usage-Oranges report will contain information on quantity treated and rates per application.
All agricultural statistics published by the National Agricultural Statistics Service are available free at www.nass.usda.gov/nass/.
Find agricultural statistics for your county, state, and the Nation at www.nass.usda.gov/nass/.
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