US (NJ): New fruit pest wreaking havoc
The spotted wing drosophila attacks raspberries, blueberries, cherries and strawberries.
"It is devastating," Tom Ford, Penn State Extension horticulture educator, said. "One Amish farmer told me he lost 5,000 pounds of blackberries. He dumped them in a hole and burned them. Growers were blindsided. One told me that everybody on his road — and this is a road that is several miles long with multiple farms — had plantings decimated."
Many growers have responded by ceasing to pick their fruit, but this is the worst thing they can don in the circumstances.
"We want them to destroy the crop; otherwise if you let it sit in the fields, it becomes a nursery and will really wreak havoc next year," Ford said.
Thankfully the pest affects only the fruit, not the plant itself, so once the infestation is dealt with the plants can go on to produce healthy volumes of fruit again.
Source: dailyamerican.com
