Spain: fly affects blueberry production in Asturias
La Drosophila suzukii it affects agriculture in the Asturian region causing losses, which had not happened before. The plague, which especially affects blueberries, has come a month and a half ahead, being a problem for Asturian producers who are in the middle of the harvest season.
In the Asturian Association of Small Fruit Producers are very concerned, since they practically have to review the fruits one by one to see if they are affected. The fly makes a small incision in the fruit where it introduces the eggs, so it is very difficult to see that defect in the fruit, said the director general of Rural Development and Agri-food of the Principality of Asturias.
Fernando García Bernardo, president of the producers association, explained that: "This fly has been introduced in Asturias for years, is not new, but the problem is that this year appeared a month and a half earlier than usual and the protocols to control it are useless" When asked why it appeared at the time of collection and packaging, there are voices that point to the weather.
Garcia assured that: "The losses are very important. Between Principado Berries and Asturian Berries we have between 80% and 90% of blueberry production in Asturias. Maybe, we can lose between the 30% and the 50%. But it is only an estimate compared to what was seen last week. We can not really know until October, when the campaign ends" Given this scenario, most producers were forced to make the difficult decision to stop the harvest and try to find a solution.
The General Directorate of Health of Agricultural Production has just allowed, exceptionally, the use of a powerful phytosanitary product, based on spinetoram, to try to stop the problem.
Comment
According to the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), spotted wing drosophila is an emerging and invasive quarantine pest. It is also polyphagous, as it attacks a wide range of fruit trees, as well as an increasing number of wild fruits.
In June of 2017, it was detected for the first time in the national territory in the communes of Pucón and Villarrica, in the Region of La Araucanía. It is important to emphasize that the plague has not been detected in productive orchards, but in urban and wild areas. From this detection, the SAG adopted a series of emergency phytosanitary measures through Resolution No. 3.672 / 2017.
The detection was made from the specific surveillance activities maintained by the SAG since 2013 for this pest, and it was thus that adult insects of Drosophila suzukii were captured in traps located in blackberries on the Villarrica-Pucón International Way that comes from the Border crossing Mamuil Malal. The corroboration of the presence of this species was established in the SAG Entomological Laboratory of Lo Aguirre, before which a series of immediate actions were determined to measure the dispersion of this insect in the area.
As a result of this detection, the past 30 of June was constituted a public-private work table in dependencies of the SAG, headed by the head of Vegetal Health, Marco Muñoz and with the presence of the head of the program Flies of the Fruit, Ricardo Rodríguez . The meeting convened representatives of Asoex, INIA, FDF and Vinos de Chile, among other guilds, with the aim of overcoming the situation that SAG handles over the presence of this insect in the country, in addition to establishing various lines of work that allow to monitor, detect and control this fly from Japan, along with visualize different research projects that allow establishing their behavior in Chile.
Source: Agrimundo
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