PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Farmers and researchers are racing to control an Asian fruit fly that first appeared in Oregon last summer and ruined some late-season peach and berry crops.
The fly is known as the spotted wing Drosophila (druh-SOFF’-uh-la) and appears to have migrated from California, where it appeared in 2008. Some growers reported losing 20 percent of their blueberry and raspberry crops and up to 80 percent of late-variety peaches.
Farmers worry it could spread to the state’s valuable cherry crop as well as pears, prunes and plums. Growers, working with crop consultants and university researchers, are trying to determine whether insecticides will control the flies.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
