Thrips are insects that cause serious damage to salad plantations, especially with conditions that encourage their proliferation. Fabrice Robert is disheartened as yet again on Monday morning he picked 400 salads that he had to throw out on his farm in Brittany. 40 hectares had been damaged by the microscopic thrip. “You can see that the plant was attacked by thrips. It led to the insect attacking the shoot, and after a week, it led to the plant degenerating, it can no longer photosynthesise and is unfit for consumption” explains Eric Soundron, Head of Agriculture at the Chamber of Agriculture in La Réunion.
Thrips are not new in La Réunion, but their proliferation is becoming problematic. For the time being Fabrice Robert is limiting the destruction using anti-thrip adhesive strips in the fields. This is an environmentally friendly method that aims to eradicate the insect and is currently being studied by the authorities.