Page 14 - Strategic Plan

nomic impact of $186.33 million and generated em- ployment of about 3,157 jobs. The industry accounts for a little over one-fourth of the farmland (20,468 acres) in Miami-Dade County, with snap beans, sweet corn, tomatoes, and squash being the dominant vege- table crops, accounting for 36.9%, 16.3%, 11.5%, and 7.9% of the vegetable area, respectively. Entrepreneurs (novice and established) are expanding the diversity of vegetable farming in south Florida with new crops and markets. Of significance is the increase in production of Asian vegetable crops.
Major Constraints
• Lackoflandownership,andsignificantincreasesin land values and land leasing costs.
• Lossoflandtodevelopmentandconversiontooth- er enterprises.
• Offshore competition for large markets and high production costs.
• Phase-out of methyl bromide.
• High production costs.
Enabling Conditions
• Located within the area is the only state-supported research center carrying out research on a range of tropical and temperate vegetables.
• Increase in high value vegetable crop acreage.
• Climate that enables winter production of vegeta-
ble crops.
• Short-andmid-termavailabilityoflandforvegeta-
ble production.
• Small- to mid-sized operations engaged in direct
marketing and alternative markets.
South Florida Tropical Fruit Industry
Tropical fruit in south Florida is worth approximately $73.5 million annually, with a statewide economic im- pact of about $190 million. Tropical fruit acreage in south Florida is estimated to be about 13,860 acres, with about 90% of the commercial acreage located in Miami-Dade County. There are approximately 1,800 commercial tropical fruit producers growing over 25 different species of fruits in south Florida. The main commercial crops are avocado (~6,000 acres), longans (1,370) mango (1,350), pitaya/dragon fruit (720), gua- va (715), lychee (700), mamey sapote (600), banana/ plantain (560), papaya (360), sapodilla (260), caram- bola (150) pumelo (120), passion fruit (55), )carambo- la, kumquat (52), and sugar apple/jackfruit (16). Minor crops include canistel, jujube, macadamia, wax jambu, spodias, guanabana, jujube, miracle fruit, star apple, white sapote, hog-plum, and star apple. Demograph-
14