The persistent rain causes the strawberries to rot in the field and the wet weather promotes the multiplication of the pest Drosophila suzukii.
This season the strawberries have been struggling with worms. Furthermore the frosty nights in April have damaged a significant share of the flowers, which led to misshapen strawberries. And now the heavy rain is a new factor.
Hagen Thoss of the expert organization Obst am Strickhof states: “It should be the time that the yield is at its optimum, but many farmers already report a decrease in harvest.” And the shorter shelf life due to the wet weather is a problem. “The fruit is less popular with customers during this weather,” continues Thoss.
Mild winter, wet weather
The pest Drosophila suzukii worries the farmers. The fear is that the mild winter and the wet weather will increases the pest this year, which also threatens other harvests. The cherries will be ripe soon, followed by raspberries and blackberries - all fruit varieties, which are threatened by the fruit fly including the grape. “Our raspberry field is directly next to the strawberry field,” says farmer Tobias Martin of Martin Agro in the north Switzerland. “And we see that there are a lot of fruit flies in the strawberries.” It is unclear if it is the Drosophila suzukii variety.