Pest management
No cause for complacency with SWD Serious infestation still possible
despite lowmonitoring numbers. By Judie Steeves
A
lthough there was no commercial damage to Okanagan fruit last year as a result of the invasion of Spotted Wing Drosophila, growers are warned not to sit back and be
complacent this year. Dave Stirling, president of the Okanagan Kootenay Cherry Growers’ Association, says “There is still the potential for lots of problems with this pest. “Cherries are the earliest fruit so they are very attractive to
SWD and traps are not a good indication of the number of them around,” he added. Kelowna agriculture ministry entomologist Susanna Acheampong admits quite frankly they have no idea what to expect this year. Last year was an unusual season with low numbers of the
tiny vinegar fly appearing late in the season. That could be in part because of the cool, late spring in 2011,
and a similar spring is in the long-range forecast again for this year.
“We’re not sure where they hide over winter. Numbers built
up late in the season, but the numbers were still low compared to the previous year,” she reported.
Money will be needed to continue monitoring efforts this year, she noted. Efforts are underway to find a method to control SWD, but research hasn’t found the answer yet.
Last year, growers were aware of Susanna Acheampong
the potential and they took care of their crops, which really helped, Acheampong believes. Since SWD will infest berries, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and grapes, as well as wild fruits such as Oregon
grape, saskatoon, elderberry and pin cherries, it’s important to control adults in all the areas any of those are grown, commercially or wild. Post-harvest clean-up is essential to prevent the spread of insects, and it’s important that any cull fruit be buried a foot deep, securely tied up in heavy black plastic bags or frozen, before disposing of it. The insect infests ripe fruit rather than rotting fruit, so it’s
usually too late to apply a spray once larvae are discovered in fruit, because it’s too close to harvest. Growers will be kept up to date on the ministry website at:
www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/swd.htm
Call us for Service of your Wind Machines Have your machine ready for operation
when you need it! Call Bowtie for spring scheduling. PHONE
250-495-6459 2 KM NORTH OF SHELL STN.
LOOK FOR THE CHECKERED FLAGS PICK UPAND DELIVERY OF FARM EQUIPMENT FOR REPAIR AVAILABLE
16 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Spring 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36