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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Commodity Protection and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #286198
Title: Postharvest Fumigation Research at ARS

Author
item Walse, Spencer
item Hall Iv, Wiley
item Bellamy, David
item Krugner, Rodrigo
item Tebbets, John

Submitted to: International Conference on Methyl Bromide Alternatives and Emissions Reductions
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/18/2012
Publication Date: 11/8/2012
Citation: Walse, S.S., Hall Iv, W.A., Bellamy, D.E., Krugner, R., Tebbets, J.S. 2012. Postharvest Fumigation Research at ARS. International Conference on Methyl Bromide Alternatives and Emissions Reductions, November 6-8, 2012, San Diego, California. p. 51:1-2.

Interpretive Summary: Recent developments related to postharvest chamber fumigation are presented, such as methyl bromide and alternative phytosanitary treatments for insect control as well as novel analytical and procedural methodology.

Technical Abstract: Agricultural industries are facing, with increasing frequency, environmental and pest-related food safety requirements that are fundamentally difficult to balance. Failure to disinfest foodstuffs in trade and marketing channels can result in insect- and microbial-derived damage which limits economic profitability, curtails market access, and, more importantly, vectors plant and animal diseases. This report describes critical research elements of the Commodity Protection and Quality Research Unit of the USDA-ARS-SJVASC that specifically address this contemporary dilemma, one that will only become more challenging and important as world-wide demand on production and distribution expands over the next decades.