Laurence Olins, chairman of British Summer Fruits, has reported a good response from growers to its Spot It Stop It campaign.
The initiative was launched in February to combat spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), also known as Asian fruit fly. A series of awareness days were organised to provide information and advice to growers. Olins said: “To date there has been an excellent response from growers. The industry will continue to work together in the lead up to and throughout the growing season, to ensure that this year’s demand for top-quality berries and stonefruit is delivered to stores as planned.”
SWD is an important issue for the UK soft-fruit industry and the new fruit fly could lead to potential crop losses if growers and packers are not prepared. Experience learnt in fruit-producing areas that already had the fly present for a number of years has shown that it is possible to minimise both the spread of the fly and the damage it can cause through a combination of early co-ordinated monitoring and the application of approved control measures.
Olins said: “A great deal of research work is underway across the world, and a lot has already been learnt from other countries' experiences of managing SWD, which the UK industry is benefiting from. A cross-industry and government working group, including British Summer Fruits, the Horticulture Development Company, East Malling Research, DEFRA, the devolved administration in Scotland and Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA), has also been working together since March 2012 to ensure UK growers are aware of the best monitoring and cultural control measures to have in place to minimise this fly’s potential impact.”
