British Summer Fruits has moved to calm fears that a pest new to the UK could cause millions of pounds worth of damage to almost every domestic fruit crop, the Fresh Produce Journal has reported.
National press reports following the discovery of Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) at East Malling Research (EMR) last month suggested that the pest could “decimate” the UK industry as it had some growers’ crops in the US, by attacking berries, pears, cherries, plums and even grapes and tomatoes. Apples are the one crop thought to be safe from the new pest.
However, Nick Marston, speaking on behalf of British Summer Fruits (BSF), said: “That is somewhat alarmist. If you allow any pest to go out of control then it will lead to high levels of loss on individual farms. However, this is not a completely new pest. It originated in Asia and has spread over a number of years to almost all fruit-producing areas of the world.
“Whenit first appeared in the US four or five years ago, it caused significant commercial damage. But our understanding on how to treat andcontrol it is much greater now and it is eminently controllable.”
See this week's Fresh Produce Journal for the full report
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