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Don’t Let Invasive Fruit Fly Ruin Fruit Harvest

By Joe Hannan
 
The “Combating the Spotted Winged Drosophila Fruit Fly” workshop will be offered April 20 in Iowa City and April 27 in Clarion. The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach workshop will cover trapping, identification, prevention and control of the spotted winged drosophila, an invasive fruit fly that lays eggs in ripening fruit just prior to harvest. Commercial fruit farmers should attend one of the SWD pest management workshops before fruit ripen and become susceptible to attack.
 
Since 2012, infestations of the spotted wing drosophila have been detected in Story, Linn, Johnson, Polk, Dallas, Pottawattamie and Dubuque counties. However, it is believed to be widely spread across the state. SWD causes damage when the female flies cut a slit and lay eggs in healthy, undamaged fruit, particularly thin-skinned fruits such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries and grapes. Larvae emerge inside the fruit and begin to feed, causing collapse and eventual decay and complete destruction of the fruit.
 
“This emerging pest threat forces growers to increase insecticide applications near harvest time or they will experience increased loss of product," said Joe Hannan, horticulture specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach. Currently, fruit damaged by spotted winged drosophila is removed from fields during harvest and destroyed, even though consumption poses no health risks.
 
Workshop attendance will also include an opportunity to participate in an ISU Extension and Outreach grant project during summer 2015 which will monitor the presence of the spotted winged drosophila in Iowa and find alternative uses for damaged fruit. “We propose using berries damaged by the spotted winged drosophila in processed, value-added products rather than discarding them," Hannan said. "This strategy would reduce food waste and create new markets for produce that is normally discarded, while increasing grower profitability."
 
Workshop locations
 
  • Monday, April 20, 9 a.m. to noon – ISU Extension Johnson County Office 3109 Old Highway 218 South, Iowa City, Iowa
  • Monday, April 27, 9 a.m. to noon – ISU Extension Wright County Office 210 1st St. SW, Clarion, Iowa
 
The workshops are free, but require advanced registration by contacting Dallas County Extension Office, 515-993-4281 or (kbeni@iastate.edu or afeltner@iastate.edu)
 

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