For two weeks in a row, SWD has been caught on berry farms in Cayuga and Schuyler Counties. Traps were checked on June 27, 2019 by Ryan Parker, Cornell Cooperative Extension NYS IPM Program. The Schuyler County site is a blueberry farm where fruit are still green and hard — not susceptible — only one female was caught there, in a trap set on the edge of the planting. In Cayuga County about 1% of the raspberries are ripe for picking, and 2 females and 1 male were caught in a trap set within the planting.
Once SWD is found on the farm and fruit are ripe, it is important to protect the crop with insecticide sprays. Refer to the quick reference guides for:
Other tactics that can help are:
- Sanitation – pick off and remove all cull fruit from the planting.
- Mowing – keep the environment hot, sunny, and dry.
- Weed management – keep the environment hot, sunny and dry, and provide no alternate hosts.
- Pruning – keep the environment hot, sunny, and dry, and improve spray penetration and deposition.
- Cold storage – immediately after harvest, place harvested fruit into a cooler at 32°-34° F and hold it there, to kill larvae and eggs, until sold.