SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Authorities are reporting a staggering jump in the number of plants seized in California's annual anti-marijuana eradication effort.

Law enforcement officials said Wednesday that the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP, seized 4.4 million plants in 2009.

The total represents a 50 percent increase over the 2.9 million plants seized in 2008 and almost 10 times the number seized in 2003.

State Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement spokeswoman Michelle Gregory attributed the increase to both larger pot gardens and better eradication strategies.

The eradication campaign started in 1983 and focuses on eradicating marijuana grown on public lands. The state calls CAMP the country's largest interagency law enforcement task force.