Drosophila, a pest of cherry orchards
Drosophila Suzukii is an Asian pest just a few centimetres long. Introduced to Europe in 2000, this fly attacks a wide range of fruits, including red berries (cherries, strawberries, blueberries, etc.).
Europe is the world’s leading producer of cherries, with French production set to reach 40,000 tonnes in 2020, making it Europe’s 4th largest producer. This production has been falling sharply for several years now, due to a number of factors. Frost is responsible for most of the drop in production, but the red fruit fly is just as destructive, destroying up to 85% of growers’ harvests.
The female is easily recognised from the male by the absence of a spot on the upper edge of each wing and the presence of a long, pointed, serrated ovipositor. In the same way as the Bactrocera Oleae, it lays an egg in the fruit so that the larvae can feed on the flesh of the fruit. These larvae feed on the flesh, spoiling the fruit and making it unfit for consumption.
Cearitis, its Push and Pull system against this pest
Today, several solutions are available to protect orchards from the ravages of the fruit fly, but these products will soon be banned in Europe. Following this decision, the industry began looking for and requesting alternative solutions to the products used.
Aware of the evolution and needs of today’s agriculture, CEARITIS has developed and adapted a protection solution for olives and cherries. This new biocontrol solution developed by CEARITIS adapts to the PIRA trap used with the SAMO solution against Bactrocera Oleae.
The solution is based on push and pull technology. To find out more about our solution, visit our page : The CEARITIS biocontrol solution
